Why Me?
by C.Queen
Summary: When Kadoma lies to his brother, Mizuki volunteers to pose as his girlfriend to help her friend out. After all, no one is ever going to find out...right? SanoxMizuki, KujouxKadoma
1. A Little Favor

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put them in. Everything else belongs to somebody else so keep that in mind when you're reeling from the weird things that happen in my fics. Thanks to all my readers and please continue to read and review cause I love to hear from you!

A Little Favor

"What am I going to do." Kadoma muttered, his face in his hands as he sat dejectedly, his shoulders slumped in obvious defeat. He'd just got off the phone with his older brother Takashi and at the moment he couldn't see how his life could get much worse. Of all the stupid things he'd done... Groaning Kadoma wondered how he was going to get himself out of the mess he'd so stupidly gotten himself into. He knew better then to let that jerk get to him like that. How could he have been so stupid? Now things were going to be that much worse because there was no way in hell he was going to be able to talk his way out of this one. He couldn't lie worth a damn face to face. Everyone could read him like a book, much less his own brother, he thought miserably. Of all the stupid lies to tell...Takashi was going to know right away and then he'd never hear the end of it. Groaning again Kadoma started giving serious thought to moving to another country and living under an assumed identity. It would be easier then facing his brother and admitting he'd lied to him.

"Are you okay?"

Looking up at the sound of a concerned voice above him Kadoma's misery filled eyes met concerned ones. "Oh, hi, Ashiya." He said with a very weak attempt at a smile. "What's up?"

"You look awful!" Was his sempai's answer as the older boy took a seat beside him, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong? Did something awful happen? Is there anything I can do to help?"

That was Mizuki for you, he really was a nice person, Kadoma thought, wishing that there really was something his friend could do. Unfortunately, there was nothing anyone could do. Well they could kill him, that would definitely solve all his problems. "Thanks, but no. I've dug myself into a hole that there's no way I'm getting out of. My brother's going to bury me in it."

"Why? What happened?"

* * *

It was really embarrassing to admit but he was in so much trouble he couldn't bring himself to care at the moment. "I lied to my brother about something and when he comes to visit in a week he's going to find out. Then he's going to make my life a living hell. Then he's going to tell my other brothers and they'll make my life hell too. Then my cousins will join in and it'll just keep spiraling until every member of my family knows and starts teasing me about it." Just thinking about it made him ill. Oh God, how was he ever going to face another family reunion once this got around?

"Wow. What did you lie about?" Mizuki asked, her face plainly showing her utter shock. How could Kadoma have possibly lied about something so bad his whole family would turn on him? She knew the younger man really well and he was a real sweet heart. If he'd lied there had to have been a good reason.

"I told him I had a girlfriend."

"That's it?" Her jaw dropping in shock Mizuki could only stare at him in shock.

"You don't understand. My brothers are these huge, muscle bound jocks that girls buzz around like bees. They're like three Nanbas only really built and athletic. My dad is just like them too." Kadoma groaned, looking utterly pitiful as he turned his head to stare in front of him. "But I'm not like them. I've never liked the things they like and I've always been the pip squeak brother to torment and abuse whenever the chance presents itself. When I applied to go to this school they hassled me for months, saying I was a queer girlie boy to want to go to an all boys school. I've never really had a girlfriend so...so they're always saying...and it's just..I just get so sick of it. And to make matters worse they're rig..." Catching himself Kadoma's cheeks went bright red, realizing what he'd let him slip.

"You mean it hurts you to hear them make fun of you, joking around that you're gay. Especially when you actually are." Mizuki said gently, squeezing Kadoma's shoulder supportingly. "So you told them you had a girlfriend so they wouldn't know because you're afraid of what they'd say. That it would alienate you from them even worse."

"Yeah." It didn't really surprise him that Ashiya had figured out that he was gay. His friend was very observant and was gay too for that matter. It was pretty obvious to everyone that the pretty boy had a serious crush on his roommate Sano. Kadoma was pretty sure that Sano felt the same way which made him really happy for Mizuki's sake. Mizuki was one of his very best friends after all.

* * *

"How would your mom take the news?" Mizuki asked carefully, getting the fact that telling the male members of his family was going to be like walking to the gallows to be hung. She had no idea what her own parents would think if she'd turned out to be gay. But they'd still love and support her, no question though it would be sorta awkward. Her brother was homophobic after all. But still, she knew in her heart that Shizuki would still accept her because he loved her that much. Just as she'd do the same for him. Obviously, Kadoma couldn't say the same.

"My mom...she'd be okay with it..but she's a lot like me. Easily intimidated." Sighing Kadoma turned to smile at his friend, doing his best to look more together then he actually was. "But don't worry, I'll be okay."

"Well there has to be something I can do to help."

"Unless you can make me straight with a cute girlfriend I don't see how."

"That's it!" Snapping her fingers Mizuki beamed at a surprised Kadoma. "I can't make you straight but I can make it so that you'll have a girlfriend to show off next week! Then maybe you could just tell them that you're bi, that would be better then gay, wouldn't you think?"

Blinking slowly Kadoma very much doubted that his family would like the idea of him being bisexual anymore then the idea of him being gay. Not that he really had any intention of ever telling any of them that he was gay. As it was, there was only one man that appealed to him and that man didn't think of him as anything other then an honorary kid brother. "Where am I going to find a girl willing to pose as my girlfriend? Last time I checked I'm lousy around them and I don't have any close friends that are girls that live around here."

"That's the beauty of my plan! You don't have to ask a girl to pretend to be your girlfriend. I'll do it!"

"Huh?" Okay, he must have heard wrong. There was no way Ashiya had just suggested cross dressing and coming along to pretend to be his girlfriend so that his brother would get off his back. Uh oh, Kadoma thought with eyes going wider by the second as he looked into Mizuki's mischievous eyes. Maybe he was wrong about that.

* * *

"Oh come on, don't look like that." Slinging a arm across Kadoma's shoulder Mizuki eagerly explained her truly brilliant plan. "Think about it, Kadoma. There's no way it won't work! It's not like I've never posed as a girl before after all." I am a girl after all, Mizuki thought with a secret smile as she went about convincing him of the brilliance of her idea. "I can borrow some clothes from Rio and it's only for one day. We're friends too so there won't be any awkwardness to worry about and he'll never suspect that I'm a boy. Heck, I get mistaken for a girl all the time." Thankfully, otherwise who knew what state her ego would be in right now, knowing that she could be mistaken for a guy.

"You can't be serious."

"I'm totally serious. Give me one good reason why it won't work."

Opening his mouth Kadoma blinked when he realized he couldn't think of a single reason why it wouldn't work. The truth of the matter was that Mizuki really did look more like a girl than a guy, even when he was wearing regular guy clothes. Wearing girls clothes you couldn't tell that he wasn't a she. His brother wasn't the most observant guy either and who would ever suspect that he was so desperate that he'd actually ask one of his guy friends to dress up like a girl. And Mizuki was actually volunteering to do this, of his own free will. Staring at his friend Kadoma didn't know what to say. "You really want to do this?" He finally asked hesitantly.

"Well it's not like I enjoy dressing up as a girl but you're my friend and I want to help. If you're willing to give it a try then you've got my support, a hundred percent." Mizuki hastened to explain, not wanting Kadoma to get the wrong idea. Or the right idea, depending on how you looked at it.

"And you really think we could pull it off?"

"You betcha. We'll fool him or die trying."

* * *

"So where's the third musketeer?" Minami teased as he came up behind Sano and Nakatsu, the two members of his dorm whirling around to give him dark looks. Who'd have thought he'd run into them while he was out running errands. Thank God Nakao wasn't with them. "Where's Mizuki? You two never go anywhere without him."

"He had plans." Sano explained, slipping his hands into his pockets. What sort of plans he wasn't absolutely sure. She'd said she was going to work for Akiha today but he'd gotten the distinct impression she hadn't been telling him the whole truth. It was pretty obvious that she'd been up to something all week.

"What do you want?" Nakatsu demanded to know, still put out that Mizuki wasn't going to spend the day with him like he'd planned. Now he was stuck going to the movies with Sano instead. And he'd had all sorts of things planned too. He knew Mizuki loved horror movies but got scared easily. If they went to see one, it was only fair that he offer to hold Mizuki's hand during the scary parts to comfort him, right?

"I'm on my way to pick up some snacks." Smirking Minami was about to tease Nakatsu some more about Mizuki when he caught sight of something so strange he completely forgot about everything else as his eyes widened. "What the hell..." Staring ahead of them, about a half a block, Minami was pretty sure he was seeing his fellow dorm advisor Tennouji and Kujou hiding behind a wall. "What the hell are they doing?"

Following Minami's gaze Sano and Nakatsu stared as they watched the president and vice president of the karate club acting very strange, even for them. The three walking towards them they weren't at all surprised when Kujou sensed them coming and tapped Tennouji on the shoulder to point out who was coming.

* * *

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Minami asked, smirking at them openly as Tennouji glared. Kujou on the other hand had gone back to watching something across the street and turning his head to see what that something was Minami raised an eyebrow as he recognized the very nervous looking young man pacing in front of the restaurant. "Isn't that that first year of yours, Kadoma? Why are you spying on him?"

"Shhh!" Tennouji glared as he put his finger to his lips. "He might hear you!"

"He's been acting very strange all week." Kujou explained, not taking his eyes off their target. "We heard him talking on his cell phone with someone, arranging to meet him or her here at this time. Kadoma seemed upset, so we came to see if we could find out what's wrong."

"Oh." Since Kadoma was such a good friend of Mizuki's Sano felt some concern, if for no other reason then if Kadoma was in trouble, Mizuki might try and get involved. That would likely not end well at all. Come to think of it... "Mizuki's been acting strange all week too."

"You don't think someone's been bothering both of them!" Flames leaping into his eyes Nakatsu looked ready to kick some serious ass. "If someone's been harassing Mizuki I'm going to tear him limb from limb and then I'm going to go to work on him, the bastard!"

"Hush." The fact that Ashiya had been acting strange was interesting though, Kujou thought, storing away that tiny bit of information. He knew that Kadoma considered Ashiya a good friend, perhaps he'd confined in him or vice versa. Though if Kadoma really was in trouble, why hadn't he just come to them first?

"Hey...isn't that...Oh my God." Tennouji gasped and everyone turned to see just who he was pointing out as they all gapped at the person running over towards the still pacing Kadoma.

* * *

"Sorry I'm late!" Mizuki called out as she ran over, teetering slightly since she was a little unsteady on the heels at the moment. They weren't exactly designed for running after all. But they'd been too cute to pass up and the sandals had looked awesome with the rest of her outfit. They weren't even that high, she thought, a little disgusted with herself. If she wasn't careful, she was going to completely forget how to be a girl.

"A..Ash...Ashiya!" Going as red as a tomato Kadoma could only gap at his friend. Or at least he was pretty sure it was Mizuki, he could be wrong. The person before him was definitely female or at least no one would ever think otherwise, even in their wildest dreams.

"Not bad huh?" Grinning in pleasure Mizuki did a quick spin to show off the whole outfit. It was so nice to wear cute clothes again!

"You can see your stomach!"

"Well you told your brother your girlfriend was really cute, remember? Besides, you can only see it a little." Okay, so she'd gone overboard. Wincing slightly Mizuki tried to look at her outfit through his eyes, getting a very bad feeling as she did. Oh yeah, she'd definitely gone too girlie, at least too girlie for someone who was doing their very best to hide their gender from the men in her life. "Uhm...I let Rio play dress up." Okay, so that was a lie but she could tell from the look on his face that it was a necessary one.

"Well there's definitely no way anyone will think you're a boy." Kadoma agreed weakly, staring at the ground rather then at his cross dressing classmate. He'd known that Mizuki could very easily look like a girl but this was just too much. The black shorts he was wearing were definitely short and were showing off more of Mizuki's legs then he'd ever seen. Mizuki was also obviously wearing the stuffed bra from the Christmas dance because he now had definite shape under the white, teddy bear print sleeveless blouse he wore, having tied the ends together so that a smooth band of skin was visible between the hem and the shorts. And if that wasn't bad enough, Mizuki had his hair up in pigtails and was wearing lip gloss! It was all too much for him to process.

"I know it looks weird..but I didn't want your brother to have any doubts, in case we slipped up somehow." Mizuki explained weakly, shuffling her feet slightly. This wasn't going to work if Kadoma couldn't even look at her without blushing. "If you want, there has to be a clothing store somewhere around here. I could go buy something else and then you could just say I was late getting here."

* * *

"No, it's okay. You look great." Here he was, making Mizuki feel bad when the poor guy had willingly dressed up as a girl to help him. God but he was a lousy friend. Putting his best foot forward Kadoma worked up a big smile. "This will definitely work. You did a great job disguising yourself."

Grinning a tad sheepishly Mizuki smiled as she draped an arm over his shoulder. "Yeah, we'll pull this off, no problem. Just remember to call me Mizuki, okay? I've been practicing calling you Shotaro in my head all day so that I wouldn't forget."

"I'll do my best."

"Right. Come to think of it...isn't your brother really late?" Looking at her watch Mizuki frowned as she read the time. She'd been nearly late herself after all and had nearly broken her ankle running to get here on time.

"He's always late." Was Kadoma's sighed answer. "Sometimes I think he just likes to annoy me by being late all the time. If I complain he gives me a noogie and starts one of his speeches on how little brothers should treat their much more mature and smarter brothers with respect. God but I hate those speeches. I've heard them so many times I can recite them by heart."

"Yeesh, that bites." Looking around Mizuki blinked, sure for a moment that she'd seen Nakatsu's head peeking at her from behind the hood of a parked car a couple meters away from them. Blinking she glanced again but didn't see anyone. She was just being paranoid.

"OH NO!"

"What is it?" Turning her head to see where Kadoma was pointing Mizuki got the just of it pretty quick. Kadoma had shown her pictures of his family so she recognized his older brother right away. The reason Kadoma looked so dismayed was the fact that there were three other people with his brother. "Who are they?"

"The guy is Machi, Takashi's best friend." Kadoma answered miserably, looking like he'd just heard his whole family had died in a terrible fire. "And the girls must be their latest girlfriends. There's never been any reason to keep track of their names because they're always gone by the time I learn them."

"HEY, SQUIRT! HAVE YOU GOTTEN SHORTER?"

"I knew I should have stayed home today."


	2. Poor, Poor, Kadoma

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put them in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and that's just not going to change any time soon. Thanks very much for reading and please review because I'd really love to hear from you!

Poor, Poor, Kadoma

Weakly lifting a hand in greeting Kadoma was treated to his brother's usual greeting which was a spine bruising slap to the back and a hard nookie that was guaranteed to mess up his hair so that it looked like he'd just stuck his finger in an electric socket. Then, true to form, he turned to send a charming, flirty smile in Mizuki's direction. "And who is this cutie you're with, squirt? No way this is your girlfriend."

"Actually, I am." Was Mizuki's reply, her tone of voice saying plainly that she wasn't nearly as thrilled to meet him as he seemed to think she should be. "I'm Mizuki Ashiya." She added, not about to say it was a pleasure to meet him since it definitely wasn't.

"Well what do you know. Way to go, kid. Maybe you are a Kadoma after all." Giving his brother another bruising slap on the back Takashi took Mizuki's reluctant hand to shake it, giving her a look over that she didn't appreciate in the least. "It's nice to meet you, Mizuki chan. I'm Takashi."

"So I gathered." Was her dry response as she tugged her hand free before turning to face Kadoma who blushed as she reached out to use her fingers to fix Kadoma's hair which looked like a bird's nest now. Raking her fingers through it she couldn't seem to get it to lie flat, the noogie had been that staticy.

"Thanks." Kadoma muttered, doing his best not to squirm as Ashiya fixed his hair. God but this was all so embarrassing. His brother would figure out somehow that Mizuki was really a boy and then his life would be over. And if it wasn't, he'd die of embarrassment anyway.

* * *

"Look at you, still blushing like a little girl over the smallest things." Was his older brother's smirking comment, shaking his dark head at his little brother. "Anyway, Mizuki chan, this is my best friend Machi, his girlfriend Akane and my girlfriend Hikaru. Guys, this is the squirt's girlfriend Mizuki chan."

Whistling under his breath Machi gave Mizuki a looking over that made Takashi's seem like a mere glance. "Well, well, nice one, kid. Never would have thought you had it in you."

"Hey!" Seeing the way Machi was looking at Mizuki, knowing the jerk the way he did and seeing Mizuki's reaction, Kadoma surprised everyone by shooting the older man a dark look. "Quit looking at Mizuki like that. You're making her uncomfortable." It was one thing to pick on him and another thing to pick on Ashiya. He might not compare to his brother but he wasn't half the sissy they all seemed to think he was.

"Whoa boy, looks like being at an all boy's school toughened you up a bit. And here we thought some guy would make you his girlfriend and sissy you up even more." Looking delighted at the idea Takashi put a restraining hand on Machi who was looking at his brother darkly. Girlie boy or not Shotaro was still his brother. No one was allowed to torment or kick his ass but him. And their other brothers of course.

Sending his brother looks that could kill Kadoma didn't bother to try and defend himself. If he spazzed out about it his brother and Machi would be all over him like starving jackals on a day old corpse. God, that was a disgusting image.

* * *

"Nice to meet you." Mizuki said as she deliberately gave the guys her back, turning to smile at the other two girls, ignoring the dark looks Machi's girlfriend was sending her way as she focused her smile at Takashi's girlfriend who smiled back, seeming nice enough.

"It's so nice to meet you too. Sho is a total sweetie. I used to baby-sit him when he was little." Hikaru responded, keeping a weary eye on Akane who she didn't like very much. When you got right down to it, she didn't like most of her boyfriend's friends. He was totally different when he was just with her but whenever he was with the guys, especially family members, Takashi always seemed to feel he had to act super macho. He definitely wasn't making the greatest impression on Shotaro's girlfriend either. And boy was she adorable, Hikaru thought, thinking that this Mizuki chan was almost as cute as Shotaro.

"So that's Takashi's kid brother, he doesn't look anything like a Kadoma." Was Akane's way of making nice as she narrowed her eyes in Mizuki's direction. She didn't mind Hikaru because it was so obvious the girl was only interested in Takashi but this Mizuki could be competition. Just Machi's type and who wouldn't dump a shrimp like that kid for her man.

"You're right, he's a lot better looking."

Both girls blinking in union they stared at Mizuki, Hikaru bursting out into delighted laughter while Akane's scowl deepened. "Oh I like you." Hikaru gushed, still chuckling as she grinned at her new friend. "You're just what Sho needs."

"What's so funny?" Machi wanted to know, having been too busy checking out the awesome stems of Shotaro's little girlfriend. Now those gorgeous legs were definitely wasted on the little twerp.

"Nothing." Was Akane's sullen reply.

* * *

Not liking the look on the girl's face Kadoma quickly piped up. "Anyway, we should be heading out now if we want to get to the carnival before the lines get unbearable." Plus, the sooner they went the sooner the others would leave and he and Mizuki could go back to the dorms where it was safe. No one hassled him or called him a sissy there. Well a few probably did behind his back but no one had the guts to say it to his face. His president and Kujou were quite strict in that area. Now they would have made much better brothers.

"Is it a very big carnival?" Hikaru wanted to know.

"My friends and I went last year and it's a nice sized one. We had a lot of fun." Mizuki answered, since taking them there had been her idea in the first place.

"So how far a walk is it from here?" Takashi wanted to know, jamming his hands into his pockets, pleased as could be. So far things were going pretty well and his brother really did have a girlfriend, which was a relief. Now he could go home and assure their dad that Shotaro really was okay where he was and didn't need to be brought home.

"Only a few blocks, about all I can manage in these heels." Mizuki joked, deciding to do her best to pretend like she didn't already hate Takashi for being such a lousy brother. "I kinda wasn't thinking when I decided to wear them today."

"True, but they do incredible things for you-" Whatever else Machi had been about to say was cut off as a hard punch was delivered to his shoulder. Turning Machi glared at Takashi. "What the hell did you do that for?"

"No flirting with my brother's girl, got it?" Was Takashi's response, a definite warning in his look. "Besides, the squirt's been taking karate right? Do you really want him to kick your ass in front of your girlfriend?" He added, to lighten the threat. Machi was his best friend and all but Shotaro outranked him as his brother.

"Like he could." Was Machi's snorted reply but he let it go as they started off towards the carnival, Mizuki and Shotaro leading the way as they did their best to pretend they both didn't want to show Machi just how much they'd learned in karate club.

* * *

Keeping Nakatsu restrained had not been easy but between the two of them Minami and Sano had managed to pull it off. They'd all managed to get near enough to hear most of the conversation and it had taken a great deal of skill for Sano not to let Nakatsu loose on that bastard Machi. As it was he was tempted to sneak up behind the bastard and see to it that the guy was never capable of turning his head to look at another girl's legs again.

"Why..why..why is Ashiya dressed like a girl?" Tennouji asked no one in particular, still reeling in shock from the reaction he'd had to seeing one of his men dressed up as a girl. Of course he'd seen Ashiya dressed up as a girl for that beauty pageant but this was different. Way different.

"I've never seen anything to indicate Ashiya and Kadoma are more than friends." Was Kujou's blunt and to the point statement. "If we continue to follow, we might learn why they're attempting to fool Kadoma's older brother into thinking Ashiya is a girl." Actually, he was pretty sure Ashiya was a girl but he kept that to himself. Everyone else but Sano didn't have the observation or intellectual skills to realize differently. That's why he wasn't upset about seeing Kadoma with Ashiya, because he'd stake his life that Ashiya was a girl who'd posed as a guy to get near Sano. Even if Ashiya was, in fact, a guy, it wouldn't change the fact that it wasn't hard to see that Mizuki was in love with the high jumper, not Kadoma. Now they needed to find out why the two were pretending otherwise.

"Think it could be because of that asshole big brother?" Minami asked, finally removing his hand from Nakatsu's mouth since the group they'd followed was far enough away.

"THAT SON OF A BITCH! I'M GOING TO KILL HIM FOR LOOKING AT MY MIZUKI THAT WAY!"

"SHUT UP!" Was everyone else's response to Nakatsu's outburst.

"How much do you know about Kadoma's family?" Minami added thoughtfully, raising his voice slightly to be heard over Nakatsu's ominous mutterings. "It almost seemed like the whole point of this visit was to confirm he had a girlfriend, like it was a big deal if he didn't."

"I've seen pictures, they all pretty much look like that older brother." Nodding his head thoughtfully Tennouji followed Minami's train of thought surprisingly well for someone who'd received countless blows to the head in his short life time. "So perhaps Kadoma felt he had to have one and Ashiya somehow ended up playing the part."

"Or volunteering." Sano muttered under his breath, knowing his roommate all too well.

"Well either way, we have to go after them!" Nakatsu announced, pumping his fist in the air. "Who's with me?" Turns out that for once, everyone was.

* * *

Once they arrived everyone opted to get something to eat and headed for the food booths for some lunch. Spotting a stall she'd eaten at last year with Nakatsu and Sano Mizuki gave it her seal of approval and everyone got into that line. When it was Mizuki's turn she gave her order than pulled her wallet out from her purse, intending to pay.

"I've got it." Kadoma said quietly, holding out the money to the cashier.

"But I can..." Shutting her mouth Mizuki remembered that she was a girl on a date here and in general, a girl expected her boyfriend to pay unless the relationship was very new, on the rocks or so old it didn't matter anymore. Opps.

"You haven't been letting her pay for stuff on your dates, have you, kid?" Takashi wanted to know, sending his brother a disapproving look.

Before Kadoma could come up with an explanation Mizuki rushed in to cover up her blunder. "It's my fault, really. I grew up in America and over there it's common for a couple to pay their share of the bill. Sometimes I forget that there are still gentlemen in the world like Shotaro who don't mind treating a girl every once in a while." Just for emphasis Mizuki slipped her arm into Kadoma's, beaming at him in what she hoped looked like an admiring gaze.

Watching his brother go as red as a tomato Takashi laughed, shaking his head at his brother's silliness. It was times like this that it was glaringly obvious which parent his little brother took after.

"So you're American?" Machi asked, an interested look on his face. He'd never dated a girl from the United States before and Akane was being a real drag, scowling and acting all possessive just because there was a cute girl with them. A very, very cute girl.

"Yup. Both my parents are Japanese and I cam over here to learn more about my culture and roots. It's been a really educational experience, not to mention a lot of fun."

"Hey, Sho, didn't you write home about a friend of yours from school who was from America?" Takashi asked, a considering look on his face as he tried to remember the guy's name. "I'm pretty sure you said his last name was Ashiya too."

"My twin brother." Mizuki blurted out, not stopping to think about the consequences of that little white lie. "That's how I met Shotaro, he's in the karate club with him at their school."

"You have a twin brother? That's so cool. What's his name? Do you guys look alike? Do you have any pictures?" Hikaru asked, thinking that with the right hair cut and no chest the girl probably could pass for a very pretty boy. Following that train of thought, since they were twins, this brother was bound to be super cute too.

"Uhm..Miroku." Was the only name Mizuki could think of that was close to her own name. She didn't know if Kadoma had called her by her first name in any of the letters and it would be better if she picked a name similar to her own so that she could laugh it off if her name was brought up. "And yeah...I have some pictures." Of myself as a guy, Mizuki thought to herself as she pulled out her wallet once more and pulling a picture out handed it over to Hikaru. "That's my brother with his roommate Izumi Sano and their best friend Shuichi Nakatsu."

"Oh my gosh, you guys so look exactly alike." Hikaru gushed as she held it over so that her boyfriend could get a better look. "I bet you two used to switch places all the time as kids."

"Yeah, until he got too manly to dress up like a girl anymore." Mizuki agreed, grinning for a whole other reason then the one they might think.

Leaning in to look out of curiosity Akane frowned, her eyes narrowing in concentration. "Hey, I know those guys from somewhere."

* * *

Paling slightly Mizuki just about dropped the food the man behind the stall had just handed her. Uh oh, picture had been bad idea. Very bad idea. "Really? From where?" Mizuki asked weakly, her mind whirling with possible explanations and scenarios.

"Yeah. These guys look a lot like those models from the "Pupa" ads!"

"Oh, that!" So relieved Mizuki was tempted to just sit down somewhere and heave a giant sigh of relief she forced herself to simply smile casually as she moved out of the way so that Takashi could retrieve his order from the front. "Yeah, they were the models in that ad. The photographer is a friend of the doctor at their school and when he caught sight of them he asked if they'd be in his shoot." So that wasn't exactly how it had happened but it worked.

"Wow, your brother's a model! Is he going to do more work or was that a one time deal?" Hikaru asked, taking her plate from Takashi with a quick smile of thanks before turning back to Mizuki.

"Well if Akiha asked him he might, I guess time will only tell." Mizuki said with a shrug, knowing in her gut that sooner or later the sugar fiend known as Akiha would drag her into another shoot with him, if only to get Sano to pose for him again. And who could blame him, Sano was just so photogenic but hated to be photographed even more, especially by Akiha.

"You should model yourself, you're even better looking than your brother there." Machi said smoothly, sending her a charming smile that came off so well practiced that Mizuki could easily see him practicing it in front of a mirror.

"Thanks."

"Lets go find somewhere to eat before we start holding up the line." Kadoma suggested, wishing that something would break off from an aircraft flying overhead and smush Machi like a bug. Even he had his limits and there was few people he disliked more than Machi. His brothers picked on him for fun, Machi did it out of sheer meanness.

"So this Akiha wasn't interested in using you as a model?" Akane began sweetly as they headed towards the picnic tables. "After all, you'd think he'd want to use twins since it would be so unusual."

"Well he asked but I'm trying to focus on my studies and club right now." Mizuki answered just as sweetly, feeling the beginnings of a cat fight coming on. Definitely not good considering her temper and the way the jerk Machi was riling it already. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been in a chick fight but she supposed she was due. Guys fought with fists, girls tore each other to shreds with words. And they said women were the softer, nicer sex. Yeah right.


	3. The DDR Masters

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put them in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and you should all know this by now anyways. Thanks for reading and please review because I'd love to hear from you. Thanks and have a great day!

The DDR Masters

After they were done eating they all decided to give their stomachs a chance to settle before they went on any of the rides. Instead, they joined the crowds as they walked around looking at the various booths with items for sale and played a few of the many games available. To be more specific, Machi and Takashi competed against each other in various games and showed off to the girls while the others watched. For his part, Kadoma stayed out of it, having no intention of even trying to win anything while they were in the vicinity. There were several he would have probably have done fine at but whenever he'd tried them in the past those two had always broken his concentration with their jeering and taunting suggestions. These things were hard enough since they were rigged without those two making it worse. Besides, they were happy and occupied which meant they weren't ragging on him or hitting on Mizuki. Now that had been a little twist he'd never seen coming, Kadoma thought with a weary sigh. It was really too bad he couldn't tell them they were hitting on a guy.

* * *

"They certainly have healthy egos." Mizuki whispered into his ear, giving him a wink when he turned to look at her. Just listening to Takashi and Machi brag as their girlfriends picked out their latest prizes was enough to make Nakao seem humble.

"Tell me about it." Kadoma whispered back, grinning at her.

"And what are you two whispering about?" Takashi wanted to know as he handed Hikaru the pink rabbit he'd won for her at the basket toss moments before. They certainly were grinning like the cats that got the cream, he thought, his curiosity aroused. Was the reason Kadoma wasn't playing any of the games because he was too busy sweet talking his girl? Just what had the tike said to put that sort of grin on the girl's face?

"Nothing!" They replied in unison, trying to look as innocent as possible which only made them look that much cuter and girlie.

"Right..." Hikaru drawled out with a wink in Mizuki's direction, laughing when the girl's cheeks went pink.

"Too busy whispering like a bunch of girls to try your luck at anything, squirt?" Machi called over, breaking the mood. He was sick of Mizuki acting like he wasn't there, especially since she'd shot him down when he'd offered to win her something since Kadoma certainly wasn't trying anything. If looks could kill she would have had him rolling around on the ground in agony already. He didn't like it one bit.

Glaring at him Mizuki seriously wished she could kick the jerk's ass. He was bigger and likely stronger but she had a clenched fist with his name on it. Besides, would he hit a girl? On second thought, yeah, he would.

* * *

"I'd rather talk with Mizuki." Was Kadoma's response, looking ready to throw some punches of his own. Normally a sweet guy Mizuki had watched in horrified fascination as Takashi and Machi had picked away at her friend, removing all the layers of cuteness to reveal someone capable of getting as violent as Umeda when push came to shove. She was beginning to think he was reaching his limit of his bullshit intake.

Takashi and Machi snickering over that while Hikaru awwed over it Akane came perilously close to sneering at them. "Well than maybe your girlfriend should win you something, kid. What's say you and I try our luck at something..Mizuki chan"

Rising to the challenge Mizuki looked around for something to challenge the girl at, her eyes bright with battle fury. Her eyes stopping at the sight of a familiar game a slow smile crossed her features. Four slots..how very perfect. "How about this, Akane..chan." Mizuki practically purred with false sweetness. "Shotaro and I challenge you and Machi to a game. If you want to that is."

Before Akane could accept or try to weasel out of it Machi spoke up for them both. "We're in." After all, what could she possibly suggest that he couldn't kick both their asses at? "And what's the prize if we win?" He added, a devilish grin in his eye.

"Whatever they give us I suppose." Was Kadoma cool reply, knowing instinctively just what sort of prize Machi had been hinting at. Machi was getting his hands on Mizuki over his dead and rotting corpse. He'd had about enough of all this and if this continued he and Mizuki were getting the hell out of there whether his brother liked it or not. Bringing Machi in the first place had been bad enough but his brother letting Machi get away with hitting on Mizuki was unforgivable.

"Well then, I guess Takashi and I will come along as official judges." Hikaru said carefully, giving Machi a warning look. She was getting as sick of the prick as Kadoma and Mizuki were. She'd told Takashi not to bring him and if she wasn't mistaken they were going to be minus two people soon if the bastard kept his current behavior up.

"Lead the way." Was Takashi's input into the matter.

"Okay. Follow me."

* * *

Needless to say Machi was not at all thrilled when he saw just where Mizuki was headed. In fact, of all the games she could have picked this would have to be his very worst and he doubted Akane was going to do much better. Thank God for Kadoma. "Guess Kadoma didn't tell you he can't dance." Machi said smoothly as Takashi went over to arrange for them all to compete against each other at once. "He's got two left feet and that's being kind."

"You'd be the one who's mistaken on that count." Was her sassy reply, giving him a superior, eat my short sort of look. While it was true that Kadoma had once been terrible when it came to dancing the same couldn't be said now. Rio had worked them like dogs for the Christmas dance between their schools and it had been learn to dance or be tortured by her wrath. Of course there was a big difference between ballroom dancing and the sort they were about to do but thankfully she knew that Kadoma was fine with dance steps so long as he had specific instructions. So long as something or someone told him where to put his feet he could put them there easily enough. For her part, Mizuki's mother was a dance instructor so of course they'd had DDR at home. Her skills might have been adequate at best when it came to professional style dancing but she had the moves when it came to Dance Dance Revolution thanks to hours playing it with Julia. Oh yeah, there was no way they were going to lose this one.

For his part Kadoma wasn't overly thrilled at the idea of playing this particular game but he knew that he could do it if he managed to ignore the other guys. He'd played DDR once at Rio's to celebrate them learning to waltz properly and he'd done pretty well considering it had been his first time playing. Mizuki had rocked at it though so they were sure to win, thank God.

When it was their turns they all took their spots, Mizuki deliberately putting herself between Kadoma and Machi so that there was no way Machi could do anything to throw Kadoma off his stride. Akane did some complaining about Mizuki being on Machi's other side but he soon shut her up with a rather harsh comment about her acting like a possessive bitch. Thankfully the announcer informed them they were about to begin before Akane could retaliate. Turning to give Kadoma a thumbs up the two nodded at each other than turned to face the screen, their sanity and pride on the line. To lose to these two would be worse than being dressed up for the Miss Osaka contest again, complete with guys ogling at them.

The buzzer going off they began, the first session easy enough that even Machi was able to keep up without any major errors. Then the difficulty began to rise and soon he was off in disgust, shortly after followed by Akane who actually kicked her machine before getting off. Kadoma and Mizuki weren't even aware of them leaving, in the zone and rocking to the beat as they busted out their moves like they'd been training for this all their lives. So fierce was their resolve not to lose to their tormentors that they were treating this like a life and death situation where failure just wasn't an option. Advancing level after level they barely heard the cheering or realized the huge crowd they were generating as they continued to beat the machine, dishing out everything they had and coming out winners again and again. Finally their time was up and the machines went off, the two coming to a stop in shock as they both turned their heads towards the guy in charge as if to ask why the hell the game had stopped. Then they became aware of the clapping and yelling, the two turning around to see a large crowd behind them, all apparently applauding them. Turning to grin at each other Mizuki pulled Kadoma into a bow with her, both blushing from all the attention but eating it up at the same time.

* * *

"That was quite a show." One of the men in charge said with a grin, coming over to pat them both on the shoulders. "You kids drew one hell of a crowd."

"Uhm..thank you." Mizuki replied, not knowing what else to say.

"Well you two come with me then." The man said, hustling them off the stage and through the crowd towards a booth with the rest of their group fighting the crowds to follow them. Arriving at the booth the man turned to Kadoma with a grin. "You two definitely earned yourself some prizes. Haku, they've got their pick from your booth. They kicked some serious ass at the DDR, best we've had in a long time. Now you kids have a good day and come back again some time." Patting them both on the shoulders again he brushed off their stammered thanks and headed back towards the DDR game area where the crowd had already begun to dissipate.

The two turning to look at the display Kadoma didn't see anything he particularly wanted since everything was pretty much stuffed animals and more stuffed animals. Turning he saw Mizuki gnawing on his bottom lip, his face the picture of intense concentration. "What's wrong?" He asked, deliberately ignoring the sound of his brother calling his name as they came towards them.

"I can't decide if I want that chubby penguin or that really cute bunny rabbit." Mizuki explained, forgetting that she was supposed to be a boy pretending to be a girl as she pointed out the two huge stuffed animals that had caught her eye. They were both so adorable!

Wow, Mizuki was really good at staying in character, Kadoma thought, impressed again that Mizuki could pull off being a girl so easily. Not once had he slipped up and if he hadn't known better he would have thought Mizuki really was a girl! "Well then get both and one of them can be from me. Sir, we'd like that rabbit and that penguin please." Pointing at the ones Mizuki had indicated before the man was just handing them over to a flustered Mizuki when the rest of their group finally arrived

"Oh wow, those are so cute!" Hikaru gushed as she caught sight of the two large stuffies Mizuki was holding in either arm. "You guys totally deserve them too. You were both really awesome out there!"

"Thanks, Hikaru." Smiling Mizuki hugged the two stuffed animals, already trying to figure out how she was going to be able to keep them. Maybe she could ask Rio to store them for her? Or she could always send them home and have her parents put them in her room until she got back during the summer.

"Those were quite some moves you busted, kiddo." Giving his brother a pat on the head Takashi grinned in approval. "You sure showed Machi which of you had the two left feet."

Scowling openly it was hard to say who was giving the dance champions the darker looks. Machi or Akane. Hikaru and Takashi both ignored the two and chatted away with Kadoma and Mizuki about the DDR, the triumph of winning that much sweeter since it had shut the other two up for the moment.

* * *

"Damn, they've got some serious moves." Minami whistled, not worrying about being seen or overheard since they were surrounded by people who were in line for some ice cream and whatever else the vendor was selling.

"He showed that assehole who was boss." Nakatsu boasted, rubbing his head gingerly as he stood up on his tippy toes to get a better view of his beloved Mizuki. The others had hit him so many times in the last couple hours for trying to go over to beat the hell out of Machi that he was surprised his head wasn't just one big, painful lump at the moment. He had one hell of a headache though.

"Well at least they aren't moving so we can have a rest." Like Nakatsu, Sano was watching Mizuki and the others like a hawk, just ready to swoop down on that bastard Machi and tear him to shred before he had time to figure out what had happened. With this crowd, he could pull it off easily and there sure as hell would be no one to mourn the prick's passing. No one that didn't deserve an ass kicking of his own, Sano thought darkly, wanting to beat up Takashi as well for Kadoma. They'd only been following them for two hours and already he hated the poor kid's brother with a passion. Even on his worse day he would have never treated Shin like that and Shin had been a brat to begin with.

"I'm surprised they haven't spotted us yet, the way Nakatsu keeps spazzing." Minami added, sending Nakatsu an amused grin. "Jealous much?"

"I am not jealous! I'm just pissed off at that bastard who keeps looking at Mizuki like she'd a buffet table and he's starving to death!"

"Trust you to use a food analogy."

* * *

"Quit it, you two." Sano had enough on his mind without those two bickering like cats and dogs. It was really unfair of Minami to pick on Nakatsu anyway, knowing that he didn't stand a chance of matching him insult wise. Nakatsu just wasn't that creative.

"Is there really any point in staying now?" Tennouji asked, starting to feel more than a little silly about following Ashiya and Kadoma around like this. As much as he wanted to join Sano and Nakatsu in kicking some jerk ass he knew Kadoma wouldn't thank them for it. The little guy was trying to tough it out and he respected that. As far as he was concerned they either got those two bastards alone and beat the hell out of them or they stopped acting like bad wanna be detectives and left his karate students to handle this on their own.

"We have to stay and protect Mizuki!" Was Nakatsu's feelings on the matter. Not that he card if the rest of them left. That way, if Mizuki did get into trouble he could rescue him and show Mizuki just how strong and tough he really was. That would definitely impress him!

"Well I'm finding this really amusing and besides, as his RA I should keep an eye on him to make sure nothing happens to him. I definitely don't like those looks that Machi guy is giving Ashiya. He's definitely up to no good."

Agreeing with Nanba Sano nodded his dark head. He didn't think it was safe to leave her here with only Kadoma as protection from that lecherous thug. He liked Kadoma a lot and the kid was on the karate team but still..Mizuki found trouble the way bees found nectar. She was probably too much for the kid to handle whether he realized it or not.

"I'm staying." Was all Kujou had to say on the matter.

That really came as no surprise to anyone and all of them were curious as to why Kujou had come with them on this expedition. Of all of them he was even more serious and level headed than Sano, not the type to run off playing detective or peeping tom depending on how you looked at it. He was taking this really serious though and had yet to say more than a few words, mostly mumbling occasionally to himself. Tennouji had caught his best friends swearing a time or two and knowing Kujou well had sensed that it was their treatment of Kadoma rather than Ashiya that had his friend all bent out of shape. Or as bent out of shape as Kujou got.

"Well I guess we continue to follow then." Minami announced with a shrug.

"Uh oh." Nakatsu's eyes went huge as he saw someone approaching Mizuki and Kadoma with a swagger in his stride as he weaved through the crowd, his destination plain. Here comes trouble with a capital T!"

* * *

Meanwhile, deciding to check out some more games the unknowing group under surveillance were in the process of deciding which game to try next when a familiar voice had Mizuki freezing like a deer caught in someone's headlights.

"Hey ya, Princess! Long time, no see!"


	4. A Pissy Princess

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put them in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and that's just the way it's gotta be until someone buys be the rights! Anyways, thanks for reading and please review because I'd love to hear from you!

A Pissy Princess

Like a deer in headlights Mizuki turned her head very slowly, the color fading from her cheeks as she watched the man who'd called out to her walk over towards them with quite the smirk on his smug face. No, swagger was more like it, Mizuki corrected, seeing all her plans and Kadoma's life going down the drain so fast their heads would spin. Of all the carnivals, in all the towns, in all of Japan, and he had to walk into this one. God, what had she and Kadoma done in a past life to possible warrant this sort of bad luck? "Kagurazaka! What..what a surprise! What are you doing here?" No place to run, no place to hide, Mizuki though miserably, no choice but to face the jerk head on and hope for a miracle.

"Some friends of mine dragged me here, never thought I might run into you though. That's an interesting look for you by the way, Princess...did Sano pick it out for you?" Grinning almost evilly Kagurazaka would have killed for a camera at that moment, just to capture the look on Mizuki's face. God, who knew, Kagurazaka thought, having to admit that Sano's boy toy was pretty damn hot in drag. You'd never know that she was a he unless you looked, something he'd leave up to Izumi. Speaking of which... "Where is Sano anyway?"

"Sano..isn't that your brother's roommate, Mizuki?" Hikaru asked, curious about the punkish boy who looked so amused as he stared at Mizuki strangely, like there was something strange about her. Why was he looking at her like that? And why would this Sano guy be picking out Mizuki's clothes?

"Yeah he is, which reminds me. Excuse us one second." Giving them all what she hoped was a sweet, not worried in the least smile Mizuki grabbed Kagurazaka's arm and dragged him off until they were out of hearing distance, unknowingly putting them in hearing distance of the five young men who'd been trailing her all day. "Okay listen, here's the deal. I need you to pretend that I'm a girl and that I'm dating Kadoma, the sorta girlie looking guy who was sitting beside me. The one who looked like he was going to have a heart attack when you came over."

Raising an eyebrow Kagurazaka didn't know quite what to think, especially with this new girlie boy in the picture. "Are you cheating on Sano?" The idiot Nakatsu was one thing but this girlie boy?

* * *

Going red as a tomato Mizuki promised herself that the next time they were both at a track and field meet together she'd grab one of the high jump poles and beat Kagurazaka to death with it. The world would understand and thank her for it. "NO! Look, Kadoma's brother and his friends are visiting and the men in his family are real jerks, especially to him. Kadoma told them he had a girlfriend to stop them from picking on him about going to an all boys school but he was lying so I volunteered to fill in for the girl he made up. He's my friend, Kagurazaka...please don't make this backfire in his face just because you like to mess with me. I talked him into this in the first place and his brothers already make his life a living hell without adding all this to the fire." Eyes going wide and shiny she had no idea how much she looked like the girl she was at that moment, tears threatening to fall as she thought about the horrors and trauma Takashi and Kadoma's other brothers would inflict on her friend because of her crazy scheme if they found out. Worse came to worse, she'd wait until Kagurazaka was gone than prove that she was a girl, Kadoma would never tell on her.

"Geez, don't cry!" Horrified and momentarily forgetting that Mizuki wasn't really a chick Kagurazaka squirmed, his hand going to the back of his neck in a show of anxiety. He hadn't felt this bad since Sano had beaten him at their last meet. This was what happened when you made friend's with your arch enemy's boyfriend, Kagurazaka thought with a groan, reaching out to gingerly pat the smaller boy on the head. "I won't say anything to them, okay? I mean, what's in it for me after all?"

"Thank you so much!" Leaping forward Mizuki caught the surprised Kagurazaka in an enthusiastic hug, beaming up at him. Thank God, he was going to help them! They were saved!

His turn to go decidedly red in the face Kagurazaka was rather grateful when he was let go. The guy was gay after all and Izumi's boy toy to top it all off. "Man...well if any of those guys try to feel you up you could probably fool them with whatever you stuffed down your shirt. Those sure do feel real." Looking pointedly at Mizuki's chest Kagurazaka chuckled as Mizuki started blushing like mad again, glad that they were once again on even ground. "And don't worry, I won't tell Sano you were fooling around with that pretty boy..he doesn't know, does he?" Mizuki's expression said it all. "Didn't think so. He's the possessive type after all. Hmmm...maybe I will tell him after all. Right before a big jump..." He was just kidding, but winding Mizuki up like this was just to fun to pass up, plus he needed the laugh, after that hug and all.

"You're such a jerk!"

"And you're such a girl!"

The two sharing heated looks it took all of Mizuki's strength not to let him have it. But no, she needed him to keep his big mouth shut right now and telling him off sure as hell wasn't going to do that. Besides, she needed to get back before the others came looking for her and ruined everything. "Look, what's it going to cost me for you not to tell Sano about this?"

A considering look on his face, since he hadn't really been seriously thinking about blackmailing him in the first place, Kagurazaka said the first thing that came to mind. "At our next meet you have to make those lemon slices you always make for Izumi BUT you have to give them to me instead...and NONE for him."

* * *

Jaw dropping in dismay Mizuki looked ready to commit murder. "Like that's not worse than you telling Sano I dressed up like a girl! Besides, I could just tell him you're lying and he'd believe me over you any day!" Or at least, she hoped he would. Dammit, was she going to have to tell him about this? He was going to get so mad at her!

"Right...well it really is up to you, Princess." Kagurazaka drawled out, a grin on his face as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Okay...fine! You win...I'll make you your damn lemon slices."

"And they have to be edible! No sabotaging them."

"And they'll be just as good as the ones I make for Sano. So we're agreed." Sticking out her hand with a determined look Mizuki shook Kagurazaka's hand and knew how it felt to make a deal with the devil. Actually it really wasn't that bad, especially since he hadn't said she couldn't bring something other than lemon slices for Sano. Cheered up at the thought of pulling one over on the high jumper Mizuki did her best not to show any of her thoughts on her face. "Okay, so we'll go back there and I'm Kadoma's girlfriend and I go to St. Blossom. My twin brother Miroku goes to Osaka and he's Sano's roommate."

"Okay..and how are we going to explain what I said earlier?" Kagurazaka wanted to know, seeing this all as one big game which was thankfully a lot more interesting than all the stupid, rigged games that surrounded them. Playing along could be fun, especially if he could keep winding Mizuki up like this.

"Uhm...we'll say..that I used to date Sano but you didn't know we had broken up. That works, doesn't it?"

"It should. Besides, they were all stupid enough to believe you're a girl..how smart can they be?"

* * *

Everyone looking pointedly in his direction as Mizuki and Kagurazaka walked away Sano had to fight the urge to do some squirming of his own under their knowing stares. "Quit looking at me like that!" Cheeks as red as Mizuki's had been earlier Sano deliberately looked away so he wouldn't have to see the speculation of their faces, especially Nakatsu's. Well at least now they knew what Kadoma and Mizuki were up to, that was something. And she was in so much trouble when she got home. You'd think by now she'd have figured out that dressing as herself was not a good idea. She was denser than Akiha on a sugar high.

Seriously sulking over the whole idea of Mizuki even pretending to have once dated Izumi Nakatsu was not in a good mood, especially since Mizuki had blushed so much before, the way his best friend was doing now. Feeling more than a little miserable Nakatsu seriously wished he'd never gotten out of bed that morning.

Sympathizing slightly with the idiot Minami didn't have the heart to rub the whole thing in Nakatsu's face. At least not yet anyway. "So he dressed up like a girl for your pip-squeak, sounds like something Mizuki would do. And to think, we had to force him to be in the Miss Osaka Beauty Pageant. We're a shoo in for next year." Minami added, trying to put some humor into the situation. That was supposed to be Nakatsu's job but the idiot was too busy acting like a three year old to do it properly.

"Do you really think they can pull this off? Kagurazaka isn't the only person here that might recognize them." Tennouji commented, looking at Minami and Kujou questioningly. From the sound of it Kadoma was in a world of trouble if the truth got out and he didn't want to see the poor guy hurt. From what they'd heard so far, Kadoma had himself some real asses when it came to family.

"We should continue to follow them and head off anyone we recognize."

Nodding his agreement Tennouji agreed with Kujou, that really being all they could do at the moment other than break up the date, which was bound to do more harm than good.

"Yeah, we have to help them." Nakatsu agreed, coming out of his snit enough to pay attention to what the older men were saying. "We have to make sure that bastard Machi doesn't lay a hand on Mizuki! He lays one hand on her and I'll kill him and to hell with staying undercover. I'll just say I did it since her brother wasn't around to do it himself!"

"Nakatsu...do you realize you're starting to talk about Ashiya as if he really were a girl? That's at least the second time you've done it." Minami pointed out, smirking as the younger man sputtered out denials. "I guess what Kagurazaka said was true...an idiot really would buy into the idea that Mizuki's a she, even one who knew better."

* * *

Walking back over to where they'd left everyone Mizuki gave Kadoma a big smile and a wave, letting him know that everything was okay and that there was no need to worry. "Sorry that took so long, guys!" She called out, giving them an apologetic smile. "I never introduced you guys, did I? This is Makoto Kagurazaka, he's a high jumper who's sorta friends with my brother and his roommate. Kagurazaka, I this is my boyfriend Shotaro Kadoma, his brother Takashi, Hikaru, Akane and Machi."

"Yo." Looking the group over, Kadoma in particular, Kagurazaka figured that Izumi wouldn't be worried even if he did tell the stuck up jerk about Mizuki's little scheme. No one in their right mind would leave Sano for this little pale little pip-squeak.

"Well you sure had Sho worried, Mizuki, when you went off." Takashi teased after everyone had said hello. "He was ready to go after you."

"Shut up." Kadoma muttered, sending his brother a dark look. This was what he got for letting his friend dress up like a girl and pretend to be his girlfriend. He hadn't been this nervous and strung out since..hell, he couldn't ever remember feeling this strung out before and there had been moments...

"So why'd you guys go off anyway?" Akane wanted to know, a knowing, superior look on her heavily made up face. After all, it sounded to her like Little Miss Sunshine might be cheating on Takashi's little brother and wouldn't that just be perfect. Especially if this boyfriend were to show up.

"She was probably just explaining to him that she and Sano broke up. It didn't happen that long ago and it wasn't a nice break up so she wanted to spare you guys the details and told him in private."

"Yup, that was pretty much it, good guess, kid." Kagurazaka agreed, glad to see that the color was returning to the kid's face. Apparently, Mizuki little plan was putting the poor kid under a lot of stress at the moment. Not that he could really blame him, he'd be just as nervous if he tried to pass some boy off as his girlfriend to his family. They'd all see through that in a second. I mean come on.

"So why'd you and this Sano guy break up? He looked pretty hot in that picture." There was something fishy about all this and Akane had no intention of letting up until she figured out just what was going on. Especially if it put Mizuki in the hot seat.

"Uhm...well...you see..." Mind racing Mizuki tried to think of a logical reason why anyone would dump Sano and couldn't come up with one. Just say he dumped her? But why?

"He dumped her for her brother."

Everyone going silent as they processed Kagurazaka words Mizuki went red like she'd never gone red before with Kadoma patting her shoulder while staring at Kagurazaka like he'd grown three heads, obviously upset on Mizuki's behalf. Not that the villain in question minded, he thought it was all pretty funny. After all, his rival was queer and so was his roommate. It wasn't like he was lying or anything.

* * *

"Your brother's queer?" Machi finally asked, looking at Mizuki like he'd just asked her if she had some horrible, flesh eating disease.

Opening her mouth to inform him that no, her brother was definitely not queer, homophobic that he was, Mizuki instead glared at him with a force that had him taking a step back. "So what if he is? There is nothing wrong with being gay!"

"Yeah right, it's disgusting." Was Takashi's response, giving her a look that said he thought she was insane. "You can't honestly think it's okay! It's unnatural!"

"What's disgusting is people like you who judge someone by the gender they happen to be attracted too! I have friends that are straight, gay AND bi and I love them all! Who they sleep with doesn't mean a damn thing to me. How dare you talk about them as if they're some sort of disease that should be exterminated! The people that should be exterminated are people like you!"

"Why you!" Taking a threatening step towards Mizuki Machi was stopped in his tracks as Kadoma stepped between them, a determined and eerily calm look on the young man's girlish face. Kagurazaka, who'd seen the threat too moved in to stand beside the smaller boy, even though he judged from the look on the kid's face that his help wasn't going to be needed.

"Lay a hand on Mizuki and I'll break you into pieces, Machi." Eyes flashing for a moment Kadoma's hands fisted white at his sides. "I've put up with your crap for years but I did it because I knew you'd just call up your friends after I beat the crap out of you and have them all gang up on me at once. But we're on my turf now and if you think I'm going to let you even lay a finger on one of my best friends you're even stupider than your girlfriend, and that's saying something."

Pissed off now Machi lashed out without thinking, his fist easily caught by Kadoma's hand, surprising the hell out of him enough that he didn't see Kadoma's other fist coming until it had plowed into his face with a force that had his head snapping back as he fell backward, crashing into a garbage can with a loud bang.

"He never did listen." Turning his head to meet his brother's shocked eyes Kadoma figured he might as well finish what he he'd started, what Mizuki had started. His friend had said everything he'd always been too afraid to say but not now, now he was going to step up and do what he should have done before this whole mess had gotten started. "And Takashi, if you think that gay men should be exterminated than I guess you think I should die because guess what, I'm GAY! That's right, I'm one of those queer, disgusting, unnatural people you think deserves to die just because I happen to be in love with a man rather than a woman. Well lucky for me, you don't have the right to say what happens to me and that most people are like Mizuki, willing to judge me by who I am rather than who I want to sleep with, which is frankly, no one's business but mine! I am sick and tired of listening to you and Dad and everyone else spreading your hatred and biases and I'm sick of putting up with the way you guys treat me so it ends today. Go home, tell everyone that I'm gay, get me thrown out of the family because you know what, I DON'T GIVE A FLYING F!#K ANYMORE!"


	5. To Protect Loved Ones

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but my original characters and the situations I put them in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and that's just the way it's going to stay until someone buys me the rights to the series. Thanks again for reading and please review cause I'd love to hear from you. 

To Protect Loved Ones

Standing there for a moment to watch his words sink in and make sure his older brother knew he was completely serious Kadoma could see the disbelief warring with the disgust and horror in his brother's large eyes. Forcing himself to look away Kadoma met Mizuki's stricken face. "I'm ready to go now. I'm sorry this ended so badly, Mizuki. Thanks for coming with me." Doing his best to work up a half ass smile he bowed at the waist then turning away from them started walking away, disappearing into the crowd.

"Kadoma! Wait for me!" Not sparing the rest of them a glance Mizuki took off after him, worried that he might do something stupid in the state he was in. If any member of her family were to ever look at her the way Kadoma's brother had just looked at him...it would break her heart. Unfortunately the crowds were thick and she kept being pushed back, unable to reach him as they both zig zagged in between people, trying to break free of the crowds that held them hostage.

Turning to look at the group that Mizuki and Kadoma had just left behind Kagurazaka felt lower than dirt as he acknowledged his part in this whole mess. Even though it was probably a good thing the kid had gotten that off his chest this wasn't exactly the ideal time or place for it. Looking at the four people in front of him closely Kagurazaka could see that the chick named Hikaru seemed to be the only one okay with this and wasn't looking like she was going to throw up at any moment. The other three looked thoroughly disgusted and Kagurazaka felt disgust rise within as well, disgust for them. "Look, I'm as straight as they come but if you think something as stupid as being gay is worth losing a brother over you're dead wrong. I've got two younger sisters and if one of them came home and told me she was a lesbian I'd probably freak big time. But I'd get over it and support her because that's what families do. And you know, gay guys used to freak me out too, but then I found out my biggest rival and his roomie were a couple and I got used to the idea. You might want to think about doing the same before Mizuki meets up with you again and kicks your skinny asses. You loved him before you knew he was gay right? What really has changed?" Since that was the closest he could get to what he thought Mizuki would say Kagurazaka gave Takashi a hard look then headed off as well to find Mizuki and Kadoma so that he could apologize for his part in this whole fiasco.

* * *

The numbness of rage started to leave him after a couple minutes, to be replaced by a consuming pain the likes of which Kadoma had never felt before. Placing a shaking hand over his heart Kadoma stopped in his tracks, the crowds swirling around him as he bit down on his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood as images flashed before his dark eyes. The look on Takashi's face... Getting nauseated just thinking about it he blinked back tears, leaning forward with his hands braced on his legs for support. God, what was he going to do now? Where was he going to go, what was he going to do without his family? How could he have left Mizuki behind to deal with them? Mizuki. Straightening Kadoma called on what little strength he had and turned to face the crowd. He had to find his friend and make sure nothing happened to him. Not that Mizuki couldn't take care of himself but still, you never knew with his brother and Machi. Weaving his way determinedly through the crowds he tried to see around everyone, not easy when you were shorter than most guys and barely functioning on top of that. Pure instinct had his head turning moments later in time to see someone who looked like Mizuki engaging in some sort of struggle with three burly looking teenage guys that seemed to be trying to herd Mizuki away from the crowd and unfortunately succeeding. Using his small stature to squeeze his way in between people to rush over to his friend, Kadoma finally got close enough to see that it was indeed Mizuki who was struggling with the trio, one of them gripping his friend's arm in what looked like a very painful hold as he laughed at whatever Mizuki was saying.

"Let me go, dammit!" Mizuki was cursing, trying to yank her arm out of the jerk's grip as Kadoma finally broke free of the crowd. "I don't want to go with you. I'm here with a friend and I need to find him. DAMMIT! Let me go! I have to find Kadoma!"

"You ain't going no where, sweetheart." One of her attacker's friend's sneered, reaching out to trail a finger down her cheek. "Don't worry, we'll show you a much better time then this friend of yours."

"I said now!" Drawing her leg forward Mizuki kicked the man holding her hard in the shin, taking grim satisfaction when he let her go so that she could take a couple steps away, automatically rubbing her sore wrist that was going to be multi colored tomorrow. Damn, how was she going to get past these guys?

* * *

Furious now the guy she'd just kicked drew back his hand to back hand her when a figure suddenly dashed in front of them, taking the hard slap across the face for the girl. Blinking in shock the man stared at the girlie face of a boy he recognized right away. "Holy shit, guys. It's that bastard Kujou's pet!" Eyes glittering malevolently now the older man was practically salivating with glee as he stared at the little pip-squeak who was putting on a brave face but was obviously smart enough to know he was in trouble. "Well if this just isn't our lucky day, boys. Not only do we have ourselves one cute little chick but that prick's boy toy to mess up too."

"Kadoma." Worried Mizuki set her hand on Kadoma's shoulder, her fingers digging in slightly. There was something about these three that made her very, very nervous. "Who are these guys?" Why wasn't anyone helping them? Everyone was glancing over then looking away like they couldn't see what was happening.

"No idea." Was his response, as he watched the three guys through narrowing eyes. They were in trouble, big trouble. Everyone nearby was giving them a wide berth rather than coming over to help break the fight up which wasn't a good thing. He didn't know who these guys were but they were all bigger, taller and a hell of a lot more deadly looking than him. They looked like they could squash both of them without having to work up a sweat. And how did they know Kujou? Were they into karate too? God help them if they were.

Confirming Kadoma's worst nightmare the leader immediately informed them that yes, they were on the karate team from a rival school and yes, they definitely had an axe to grin with anyone on the Osaka karate team. Especially anyone who was close to Kujou. The guy Mizuki had kicked was the team's captain and the third year was looking for blood. Theirs. "And you're that kid who was hanging all over him and that nutso Megumi at nationals." The leader added, jamming him index finger into Kadoma's chest. "That bastard Kujou cost me my final chance to go home with the gold, that smirking, stuck up bastard. Well. We'll just see how he feels when I send him his pet back on a stretcher, shall we?" Drawing back his fist the older man took a swing at Kadoma, a move the younger man had been waiting for. Ducking Kadoma knew it was fight or be pummeled so he tried for a right hook only to be blocked and hit with a knee to his kidney. Grinching his teeth at that pain Kadoma had his hands so busy dodging blows that he didn't see the other two go after Mizuki until it was too late.

* * *

Having been so focused on Kadoma Mizuki didn't even sense the guy behind her until he'd grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms behind her. Thoroughly pissed off by now Mizuki jerked her head back and heard a satisfying crunch as the bastard's nose received the painful, bone breaking blow. Unfortunately it also hurt her head a hell of a lot and distracted her from seeing the other one coming towards her with dark intent. Seeing him just in the nick of time Mizuki was just able to avoid the blow, instinctively responding with a round the house kick that had her sandal meeting the bastard's face with a satisfying smash. Turning her attention back to the one on one battle Kadoma was having with the much more seasoned third year Mizuki gave a war cry Xena would have been proud of and running over launched herself at the older man's back , trying to get him into a headlock while Kadoma delivered three painful punches in rapid succession to the senior's midriff. With a roar of rage the senior managed to grab one of Mizuki's arms and literally threw her off his back and over his head to crash into the ground on front of them with a loud thud. Mizuki didn't get back up.

"Mizuki!" Turning with the blind intent to help his friend somehow Kadoma went crashing to the ground as well when one of the others, the one Mizuki had kicked in the face, leapt at him and tackled him to the ground while the senior lumbered over and drew back his foot to kick the stunned Mizuki in the ribs. The blow never landed though as two guys came out of nowhere, the blonde tackling him to the ground while the other delivered a punishing kick to his side, hot blooded fury in his dark eyes. Throwing the blonde off him and into the other guy the senior got to his feet only to be set flying back down as a fist came out of nowhere with a strength and power he recognized well. Kujou.

Hauling the bastard up seconds after he'd hit the ground Kujou's eyes were so icy cold that the senior literally shivered in fear even as he cried out in pain as Kujou held him up with his left hand while he fisted the other and brought it repeatedly into contact with the other man's chest as Kujou went about turning the bastard's innards into mush.

* * *

Lip bleeding slightly Minami wiped away the blood after he'd insured that the man who's nose Mizuki had broken wasn't going to get up again anytime soon. Looking over at his charges he wasn't surprised to see that Sano and Nakatsu were busy fussing over Mizuki, Kagurazaka kneeling beside them as well as he put his school jacket over Mizuki's shoulders with a pissed as hell look on his punkish face. Probably disappointed that he missed the fight, Minami thought with a smirk as he turned to watch as Kadoma finished off the punk who'd jumped him before. The man was pretty much down and out but Kadoma apparently still had some aggression to work out and Minami wasn't about to stop the poor kid from getting some justice. And speaking of aggression, Minami thought as he turned his head to look to his right where Tennouji had his hands full with Kujou's fight with the other guy. Tennouji was letting Kujou take care of the bastard and it was plain to see that the karate's captain was poised to spring at any moment to draw Kujou back from actually killing the bastard. He'd heard the rumors about Kujou but he'd never really seen the guy in action until today and hoped to never again. Man the guy was just plain lethal and it was blantly obvious that the guy was out for blood and a lot of it. The punches and kicks the two guys were throwing were blurs but even he could see that Kujou's blows were hitting their targets with brutal regularity while the other guy was more focused on trying to block the killing blows than delivering many of his own. Of course it didn't help that Kujou kept picking the guy up off the ground to keep the fight going either. Damn, may he never piss Kujou off this badly, Minami thought with a grimace, tempted to cross himself even though he wasn't Catholic as he viewed the carnage. Since watching anymore was bound to give him nightmares Minami figured he was better off going to check on his boys then continuing to watch a man be beaten half to death with a cold blooded efficiency that was downright chilling. Hurrying over Minami crouched down to look over Mizuki who was stuck sitting on the grass between Sano and Nakatsu, each of the boys holding one of Mizuki's slightly bloodied hands. "You okay, Ashiya?"

* * *

"I'll live." Grimacing Mizuki figured she was going to be sore all over for a while and that she was in for one hell of a headache everyday for the near future. God, who knew head butting someone would hurt so much? "Are you okay, Nanba? Your lip's bleeding." Nakao was going to freak when he saw Minami's swollen lip, Mizuki thought with a weak smile. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be there to see that or not.

"It's nothing." Shrugging it off Minami turned his head as Kadoma crouched down beside him. The poor kid's face was seriously bashed up and if the kid didn't have two black eyes come tomorrow morning Minami would shave his head bald.

"Are you really okay, Mizuki?" Cradling his aching right arm against his chest Kadoma lifted his left to place a hand on Mizuki's shoulder, his worry plain. "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you! He was just too much for-"

"None of that." Pulling a her hand free from Sano's grasp Mizuki placed a finger against Kadoma's parted lips. "None of this was your fault and don't even think about saying otherwise. Now go help Tennouji stop that fight before Kujou kills that guy and ends up going to jail for doing the world a favor."

Getting up to do just that Kadoma had only taken a couple steps when Hikaru appeared in front of him, looking absolutely horrified. "Sho! Are you okay? You've got blood dripping down your neck and your face! What happened here? How badly are you hurt?"

He was bleeding down his neck, Kadoma thought absently, well that explained why that area hurt along with every other inch of his body. "I'll live." Out of the corner of his eye he could see his brother standing with the crowd that had gathered to watch the fight. Machi and Akane were nowhere in sight. "Don't worry about me, you two go back to the others, I'll be fine. My friends are here now, so don't worry."

"He didn't..." No, there was no excuse for Takashi and she wasn't going to make one. "I'll go see if I can find a booth with a first aid kit for you and your friends." Leaning down Hikaru placed a quick peck on Kadoma's bruised cheek. "I'll be right back."

Smiling his thanks Kadoma watched her go, his brother intercepting her to find out what was going on. After a brief but heated looking conversation the two disappeared into the crowd without a glance in his direction. Turning his head when he heard his captain yelling at Kujou Kadoma hurried over as he saw that Tennouji was standing between his best friend and the bad guy, obviously trying to keep Kujou from doing any more damage. "Sir!" Falling back on what had become almost a pet name between them Kadoma rushed over to Kujou's side, reaching out with his left hand to grasp Kujou's wrist. "It's okay now! Please don't hurt him anymore. You'll get in trouble!"

* * *

Looking down at Kadoma Kujou could feel his rage fire up even hotter as he looked at what had been done to Kadoma's face. Hands clenched into fists at his side he couldn't even speak, his jaw was clenched that tightly. He'd never wanted to kill anyone before but right now he wanted to taste the blood of all three of these bastards and then go after Kadoma's brother for dessert. He'd never felt rage like this before, never had such a loose hold on his famous control. At the moment, only Kadoma's hand on his wrist was keeping him in place. "He hurt you." Was all he was able to get out finally, his muscles flexing in agitation.

"He won't anymore." Sensing just how close his sempai was to losing it Kadoma searched for something to distracted the older man with. "I think I might have broken some bones in my hand. Will you look at it for me? Tennouji san will make sure none of the men get away."

Forcing himself through sheer will to turn his back on his enemy Kujou stared at the hand Kadoma held out to him, trust plain in the eyes that were already starting to swell. Gently taking the wounded hand into his left hand Kujou carefully examined the small hand with his other, noting the bruising and the swelling that made him think Kadoma was right about the broken bones. "We need to get you to a doctor." He said softly, cradling Kadoma's hand in his own like it was made of the most delicate of crystal.

"Only if you'll go with me."


	6. Reconnecting

Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing but the original characters and what's going on in my crazy, twisted scenarios. Thanks very much for reading and please review so I know what you think!

Reconnecting

Forcing his breathing to steady Kujou looked down into Kadoma's pleading face, forcing himself to let go of his anger and concentrate on what was important. Who was important. "Okay, we'll go to the hospital. Is Ashiya all right or does he need to go too?"

"He's okay; Sano and Nakatsu are with him, along with RA Nanba." Kadoma assured him, pleased to see Kujou's usual calm settling over his sempai once more. "It was a good thing you guys were around to help us. We would have been in a lot of trouble otherwise."

Equally relieved Tennouji jerked his head in the direction of the rest of their classmates. "Looks like your brother's girlfriend found a First Aid kit, Kadoma. Let's get you over there and patch up what we can. One of the guys in the crowd said he'd called an ambulance so we might as well wait for it."

"How did you know Hikaru was my brother's girlfriend, Sir? You've never met her."

"We were following you this afternoon. We were worried."

Blushing a bright red it was only Kujou hand on the small of his back, steering him in the right direction, that had Kadoma moving at all, much less towards the others. Oh God, just how much had they seen and overheard? Had Kujou san heard him confess to his brother that he was gay? Had everyone heard that? They weren't acting any different, so maybe they'd been too far away to hear. Oh please let them have been too far away to hear. Tonight had been bad enough.

* * *

Once they'd reached the others Kujou ordered Kadoma to sit down, waiting until the younger man obeyed before he went over to the First Aid kit to see what was available. He preferred to use as little as possible, since he had no idea just how sanitary anything in the thing would be.

"You're a friend of Shu's too?" Hikaru asked hesitantly, intimidated both by the man's strength and the way he'd just beaten the hell out of the guy who'd been the leader of the bad men. She didn't know much about karate but she knew a master when she saw one. And yet, he'd been so gentle with Shotaro when he'd brought him over. There was a bond there, she could see it, Hikaru thought as the older man crouched down beside her.

Looking up briefly from the woefully inadequate First Aid box Kujou gave a brief nod of acknowledgment. "I'm Itsuki Kujou. I'm Kadoma's vice captain in the karate club."

"Oh, oh I know all about you! Shotaro really admires you a lot." Watching him pick out a few things Hikaru reached out and hesitantly set her hand on the other man's upper arm. "Is he really going to be okay? He looks just awful."

"His family might not be worthy of him but his friends are. We'll take good care of him." Rising Kujou turned to leave but paused, turning back to meet her worried gaze. "Thank you..for caring enough to ask." Walking back over to kneel in front of Kadoma Kujou could hear the sound of approaching sirens, likely police and ambulance. Well, at least there were two residential advisors on scene. They could handle this mess while he took care of Kadoma. Handing Tennouji the flashlight he'd grabbed Kujou concentrated on cleaning the head wound, carefully washing and disinfecting the wound while Tennouji held the light behind him so that Kujou could see what he was doing. They were joined moments later by a medic, lead by Hikaru.

"Is the head wound serious?" The medic asked, crouching down to get a look for himself. It must have been some brawl, he thought, taking in the kid's battered appearance.

Kujou shook his head. "I don't think so. His hand needs to be X-rayed, his ribs as well as a precaution." The rest of the wounds were bruises or scratches, nothing he saw looked deep enough to require stitches. Kadoma would likely end up with his hand in a cast, but that was nothing compared to what could have been done. Thank God Kadoma was part of their club, Kujou thought, moving out of the medic's way so that the man could get a closer look. Had he not known how to defend himself, he wouldn't have stood a chance.

Doing his best to not wince as the medic poked and prodded Kadoma looked over to see Ashiya and the others talking to men in uniforms. The police, he realized.

Seeing the worry in his eyes, plus where he was looking, it wasn't hard for Hikaru to figure out what had Kadoma starting to fidget, which wasn't good for him in his present condition. "Don't worry about them, Sho. A lot of people saw what happened; the police know that you and Mizuki chan were just fighting in your own defense. You guys won't get in any trouble." Well Kujou san might, for using excessive force, Hikaru thought, looking over at the silent man who'd taken a seat beside Kadoma, their shoulders almost brushing. If that happened, she'd ask to testify on his behalf. If she had had the strength, she would have done the same, to protect someone she loved. And she thought there was love here, between the stoic warrior and the boy man who wanted to be just like him. Whether they were aware of it was another story.

* * *

Things happened pretty quickly after that, with Kadoma being loaded into an ambulance with Kujou and Tennouji, the rest heading back to school at Kadoma's insistence. Hikaru found Takashi in the crowd easy enough, her boyfriend concentrating so hard on watching the ambulance roll away that he didn't even notice her presence until she tugged on his sleeve.

"I got the name of the hospital, and direction." She said quietly, holding out the car one of the medics had given her.

Jerking his shoulder in a rough shrug Takashi made no move to take it from her. "I don't know what to say to him."

"Right now, being there will be enough. If you don't go now, then when, Takashi?" Seeing the conflict on his face Hikaru knew this was something he needed to decide on his own. If he didn't go..she didn't know if she could forgive him..or if he'd ever be able to forgive himself.

"I'd probably make things worse for him. Those other guys..they'll take care of him."

"But they aren't his brother." Waiting until they turned to look at him. Sano said what he'd come over to say. "We can't pick our families because if we could, a lot of us wouldn't pick our own if we had the choice. But we don't. And as big brothers, we're told from the day our brothers are born that our job is to take care of him. Protect him. Stand by him no matter what. They might annoy the hell out of us, make us wish they'd never been born, but we love them. We love them because they're our little brother. Whatever they become, whatever they do, they're still our brother..and that's a bond nothing and no one can break."

"What would you do?" Takashi asked, sensing somehow that this stranger would have the answer he couldn't seem to find on his own.

"I'd remember that if the situation were reversed, my brother would stand by me. Kadoma would stand by you."

"Yeah. He would."

* * *

Leaving Kadoma's brother with that to think about Sano took his leave, heading back to Mizuki who was standing between Nakatsu and Kagurazaka, both men appearing to be standing guard over her. Nanba was still talking to the cops, hopefully arranging for them to leave. God help them if the cops decided to go in-depth into Mizuki's background. First they'd think she was a cross dressing boy which was weird enough, but if they dug deeper...well then they were all up shit creek without a paddle. And who's fault was that, Sano thought, watching her watch him wearily as he approached. Yup, she knew a lecture was coming and boy was she ever right. The only question on his mind was where to start.

Reading his rival's face accurately Kagurazaka felt sorry for the kid, who looked so small standing there in his borrowed school jacket. Then again, Kagurazaka figured he'd be equally pissed if he found out that his 'girlfriend' was posing as some other guy's girl, much less if said 'girlfriend' got hurt during the pretend date. Man, Ashiya and that Kadoma kid would have been meat if those karate guys hadn't come on scene when they did. Damn, but that blonde guy was scary as hell.

"Nanba's trying to convince the cops to let us head back to school." Nakatsu offered, hoping to steer Izumi away from yelling at Ashiya for the moment. Judging by his best friend's face, it hadn't worked one little bit.

"I still think we should have gone with Kadoma to the hospital." Visibly pouting, especially since both RAs had ordered her to stay behind, Mizuki was not a happy camper. Especially since she could see on Sano's face that she was in for one hell of a tongue lashing when they got home. The perfect end to a perfect day, Mizuki thought bitterly, shuffling her feet. She could see Takashi and Hikaru standing off to the side, slightly separate from the rest of the crowd. The bastard hadn't gotten into the ambulance with Kadoma. Kagurazaka had been mad that he missed the fight, maybe she should sic him on Takashi, Mizuki thought nastily, enjoying the image of someone beating the sense into the jerk. He definitely deserved it now.

"He has Kujou and Tennouji with him." Nanba reminded her as he came over to join their little group, worn out from trying to convince the cops that it was in everyone's best interests that they were allowed to head home instead of downtown. "Anyway, we can head back to school now. I gave him our phone numbers where we can be reached, but I don't think there will be any problem. Apparently some asshole in the crowd decided the whole fight was worth recording on his cell and one of the uniforms confiscated it before he could get away. They have it all on tape so to speak, so I'd imagine they'll use the footage to get the guys to bargain and drop the charges the one guy will probably want to press against Kujou for excessive force. Man, the guy really whaled on him. The cop said he figures the guy's lucky he's not bleeding internally, the way Kujou was landing those blows."

"Well he's definitely the vice captain for a reason. I think he just lets Tennouji be captain."

Everyone agreeing with Mizuki's assessment, they all headed away from the festival to find the nearest bus stop. Kagurazaka came along to see them off, and to make sure Mizuki didn't find any more trouble on the way there. With him, you just never knew.

* * *

Tennouji sat by himself in the waiting room, waiting for Kujou to return. His best friend had been taken away to get his hands bandaged, torn up from constantly slamming into something hard and human. Why did the bad guys always have to have such hard heads anyway? Hands in his pockets Tennouji toyed with the idea of calling Kana, letting her know about Kadoma. She was soft on the kid, and she'd come and visit, cheer the kid up the way girls instinctively knew how to do. But no, now wasn't really the time, he thought with a sigh. Sighing again he turned his head automatically at the sound of hesitant footsteps, thinking perhaps a nurse was coming with more forms for him to sign. But no, it was Kadoma's brother standing in the middle of the hallway, looking confused, weary, and ready to bolt at any moment. "He's getting X-rayed. The doctor thinks he's broken some bones in his hands, cracked some ribs maybe." Should he make him stay or let him go, Tennouji wondered, as he watched the man process what he'd said. He honestly didn't know, didn't know which was worse for his kohai. He'd just have to let the brother make up his mind for himself, that was all he could do for Kadoma now. The rest was up to him.

"Is that blonde guy with him?" Takashi asked hesitantly, looking around wearily for the man who'd attacked so fiercely on his brother's behalf. The one who Kadoma had gone to for help, who had taken care of his little brother while he'd remained rooted to the spot. Unable to think, unable to move, unable to do anything it seemed, but stand.

"Kujou? No, he's getting his hands looked at. When you're hitting someone with everything you have, you tend to tear up your hands some." Or a lot in this case, Tennouji thought as he recalled the condition of Itsuki's hands. His friend wasn't going to be training with him tomorrow or any time soon; that was for sure.

"So that's Kujou." His brother had talked a lot about the vice captain of the karate club whenever he'd come home for a visit. It had been pretty obvious that his little brother had developed a serious case of hero worship where the guy was concerned. "Is he..is he my brother's..."

"Boyfriend? No, he isn't. Kujou loves him though." Tennouji wasn't sure if this was right, but it felt right, and he was a man who went with his instincts. "The thing about Kujou is, he's too honorable for his own good sometimes. Your brother's only fifteen, he's still got a lot of growing and maturing to do, Kujou knows that. He doesn't want to get involved with Kadoma until Kadoma's old enough to handle the sort of repercussions and consequences that would come with being involved with him. Personally, I think he should at least clue Kadoma into that but Itsuki's never been big on taking my opinion into account. From what little I've got out of him, he's going to wait until Kadoma's older or approaches him first."

"Ah." Jamming his hands into his pockets Takashi didn't know what to say next. All his life he'd been taught to think and behave a certain way. Now they were all contradicting each other so that he didn't know what the hell he should think or do. That dark haired guy from before, he'd been right about the whole little brother thing. His mother and father had always expected him to look after his little brother, to make sure that the only one causing Shotaro trouble was the brothers themselves. He'd also been taught that men who were gay were unnatural, pansies, sissies who should be avoided like the plague. He loved his brother. At the core, that was what was important and he knew that. He just didn't know how to get around everything else. How to fix what seemed unfixable. He couldn't make Sho straight. He couldn't go back in time and change everything that had happened since he'd met up with his brother. He couldn't undo years of being told to think one thing and than just change his values overnight. All he could think about was what he couldn't do. What he could do was the unknown.

* * *

After having his hands seen to Kujou went in search of Kadoma, intimidating his way through the nurses and doctors to find out where Kadoma was. One of the nurses finally gave up and pointed him in the right direction, an empty exam room where Kadoma had been told to wait for the results of his X-rays to come back. Someone had wrapped up his hand to keep Kadoma from doing any more damage before the doctors could discern how bad the damage was, Kujou noted, his gaze sweeping over Kadoma, noting the bowed head and the dejected slump of his young shoulders. Kadoma was sitting on top of a padded table, his legs hanging over the side and his bad arm laying in his lap as he remained lost in thought, seemingly unaware that he was no longer alone.

Sensing Kujou's presence Kadoma looked up, watching his sempai walk across the room to take a seat beside him on the table. "How are your hands?" Kadoma asked shyly, looking at the bandages that had been wrapped around those strong, calloused hands. He'd already apologized for it a hundred times on the way here but Kadoma could barely stop himself from doing it another hundred. He was just so sorry that Kujou had been hurt because of him. That on top of everything else was just a little too much to take at the moment.

"I've done worse." They ached like a bitch and Kujou could barely make them move into fists. He couldn't remember ever doing this much damage to them before, even when he'd first started karate and had regularly gone home feeling like his body had been worked over by a Mafia hitman. But his hands would heal and no matter how long that took, it had been worth it. "When will you get the results?"

"Soon. Which in doctor speak could be a while." Trying a weak smile Kadoma hoped it wasn't obvious just how much he wanted to crawl into his sempai's lap and just stay there until morning finally came. He couldn't take any more, he just wanted to curl up and go to sleep, let himself believe, just for a little while, that this all had been some horrible nightmare he could wake up from. "You and Tennouji san can head back to the dorms you know, Sir. I can take a taxi back once they put the cast on. I have enough money and there isn't much you can do anyway."

Studying Kadoma's face Kujou could see the boy had about reached his limit for the night. The veneer Shotaro had been holding onto so desperately was starting to crack and he didn't want anyone around to see him when he did. Well tough. Pulling out his cell phone Kujou calmly texted a message to Megumi's number. 'Head on back, this could take a while. I've got Kadoma with me, we'll be fine.' Tucking it back into his pocket Kujou turned his head to meet Kadoma's questioning gaze. "I told him to head back. I'm staying."

"But you don't need to stay." Kadoma protested.

"Yes. I do."


	7. Hold Me Close

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put them all in. Thanks very much for reading this fic and please continue to do so and review!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!

Hold Me Close

The two remained seated in relative silence as they waited for the doctor to come back with the results. Kujou was anything but a talker and Kadoma was so depressed that he didn't even bother to make conversation. He just kept inconveniencing Kujou so much that Kadoma didn't want to make it worse for his senpai. They'd been waiting about an hour when the door finally opened, the two turning their heads to see Takashi rather than the doctor they'd been hoping for.

Shuffling his feet Takashi closed the door behind him, definitely not wanting this conversation to be overheard. It was bad enough with the blonde in the room, staring at him with those cold eyes that unnerved him more than a loaded gun in his face would have. Clearing his throat several times Takashi focused on his brother, who looked so small and defenseless beside the larger, tougher senior. "Hey. Uhm..I have to be going now..to catch the last train back. Hikaru already left."

"Safe trip." Was his little brother's quiet response, Kadoma's head bent slightly forward so that his eyes were half hidden by his bangs.

"I...I'll talk to Dad. Machi and Akane..well they'll be telling everyone that will listen by the end of the week and...I'll break it to him first. I'll..I'll do what I can to calm him down and keep him from coming down here...at least until you've healed up some." Rubbing the back of his neck Takashi didn't know what else to say. "So yeah..I'll be seeing you. I'll call you tomorrow...to let you know how it went with Dad."

"I can call him, you don't have to do it."

"Naw, I'll do it. He's..well you know how he's going to be. After the way I acted...well there's no need for you to hear...before he has a chance to calm down and all." Damn, this was so hard. Hardest thing he'd ever had to do. But he kept his eyes on his brother and forced the words out. "If he..if he tries to disown you for this..I'll..I'll still come and visit. You'll...still be my little brother."

Raising his head now to meet his brother's gaze Kadoma could see how hard it had been for his brother to say what he'd said. A lot of it had been said out of guilt but Kadoma could see that at the core of it, his brother really was trying to make an effort, to reach out to him. It was more than he'd ever expected. "Thanks...big brother."

"Well..uhm..bye then. You ah, keep taking care of him okay?" Takashi asked, directing the question towards Kujou, relieved when the blonde simple nodded rather then tried to start a conversation or worse a fight. "Thanks. Well...later." Turning he quickly opened the door and closed it behind him, making his hasty retreat.

Once the door was closed Kujou turned his head to look at Kadoma, noting the shaking of the boy's shoulders and the hands that struggled to clench into fists as the younger man fought desperately for control. Placing a hand over the hand in the sling Kujou waited until Kadoma met his gaze before speaking. "It's going to be all right."

Nodding Kadoma couldn't speak, his throat was so tight, his eyes starting to water though his stubborn will refused to let more than a couple fall.

The sight of those tears was more than Kujou could bear. Swiftly he slid one arm under Kadoma's legs and the other around the startled boy's waist, lifting the boy up and onto his lap. Wrapping his arm firmly around the boy to keep him in place, Kujou used the other to gently press the boy's head against his chest, laying his own head on top of Kadoma's.

On a gasping shudder Kadoma grasped Kujou's shirt front with his good hand, burying his face against his senpai's throat as his body was wracked by shudders, as he leaned against Kujou, taking the support being offered with everything he had. He held on as though he'd never let go, which was exactly what he wanted most.

* * *

Sano waited until they were in their room before he shut the door and backed Mizuki up against it, his hands on either side of her head to keep her in place. Staring into her eyes Sano could see that she clearly understood she was in trouble but like always probably didn't have a clue as to why. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Huh?" Okay, that definitely hadn't been the reaction she'd been expecting.

Yup, she didn't get it. "Why didn't you tell me what you and Kadoma were planning to do? What do you think would have happened to the both of you today if we all hadn't been concerned enough to tail you guys? You could have been seriously hurt or worse, Ashiya. If you'd told me about this, I would have come along and kept you both safe."

Eyes wide Mizuki blurted out the obvious answer. "But you would have never let me do it in the first place."

"I would have for Kadoma. I wouldn't have liked it, but I would have understood." Damn right he wouldn't have liked it but he understood that there was no lengths she wouldn't go to to help a friend. It was one of the things that he loved most about her. It was also, unfortunately, one of the reasons why she was forever getting into situations that guaranteed his hair was going to be white before he was forty.

Mizuki doubted that but was wise enough not to contradict him for the moment. "Then I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"You should be. Now go take a long hot shower so you aren't sore tomorrow."

"Yes em." She meekly replied, hurrying off to grab some clothes to change into before heading into the bathroom to do precisely that.

Shaking his head at her Sano changed into sweats and a T-shirt and stretched out on his bed to do some reading. Keeping an eye on the clock, since she tended to let herself be boiled if someone didn't hustle her along, Sano was watching as she came out wearing sweats and a T-shirt as well. Turning his attention back to his book he wasn't really surprised when she stretched out beside him, laying her head on his shoulder. Shifting to put am arm around her Sano paused to place a quick kiss on her forehead before going back to his book.

"Does that mean I'm forgiven?"

"It means that the next time you dress up in girls clothes, it's going to be me and not for some other guy. Understand?"

Mizuki grinned as she closed her eyes. "You betcha."

* * *

When the doctor finally arrived it was to find his patient passed out in the arms of the blonde haired boy who'd apparently been in the same fight as his patient. His patient, who looked exhausted even in sleep didn't so much as stir when the door opened and closed. The older boy's eyes had been closed as well but they'd snapped open as soon as he stepped in, clear and direct as he looked at him questioningly. "The left hand can just be bandaged with splints, but the right is going to need a cast."

"May I see the X-rays?"

Handing them over the doctor watched the blonde study the breakages, then hand it back to him, his face never changing expression. A cool one, this boy. "We'll get the cast on first, then put the splints on the fingers that need them."

"Can you do it while he's asleep? He hasn't been sleeping well and this has put him under. I'd like him to stay that way, he doesn't deal with pain well."

"We can give it a shot."

And surprisingly, Kadoma managed to sleep through both procedures. He barely even stirred as Kujou carted him around from room to room, helping the doctor position Kadoma's fingers for the splints and holding him steady when the cast was being applied. He didn't wake either, while Kujou filled out and signed the multitude of forms needed to check out him out and procure the pain medication the doctor had prescribed for him to take for the next few days. Even more startling, Kadoma slept through the entire taxi ride home, despite the midnight traffic and constant stops. After paying the driver Kujou slipped his arms back around the boy once more and carried him through the gates and onto the school grounds, getting to the dorm without a fuss to find Tennouji waiting for him at the door as planned. Together the two walked to Kadoma's room, Tennouji using his RA keys to unlock the door and open it for Kujou to walk through since his hands were full. When they walked in, Kadoma's roommate spun around at his desk, having been waiting for them since Tennouji had come back to tell him what had happened.

"How bad is it?" Hirakata asked, leaping to his feet to get a look at his unconscious roommate. Even though they were the same age, he treated Shotaro like a little brother and had sorta developed a big brother complex in the process.

"Out for the count for the moment." Laying Kadoma down on the bottom bunk Kujou settled him in before fishing out the container with the pain killers, handing them over to Kadoma's roommate with a light toss. "When he wakes up he's going to want those. There's instructions on there, and the nurse said they'd make him drowsy, so tell him to stay in bed for most of tomorrow. Does he wear pajamas?"

Caught off guard by the change in topic Hirakata blinked as he saw where Kujou was going with the question as his senpai began unbuttoning Kadoma's shirt. Uh oh. Shotaro would kill him if he let Kujou senpai undress him while he was unconscious. Sho might be one of the most easy going guys Hirakata had ever met but there was no doubt in the boy's mind that he'd wake up sometime soon with Shotaro's hands around his throat if he didn't interfere and now. "Uhm..I'll do that...he uhm...he's ticklish you see...we don't want to wake him up right? And uhh..besides, you guys should turn in..cause it's late. Shotaro would feel bad...what with putting you guys out so much already."

Amused Tennouji leaned over to put a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Hirakata kun's got it from here. Lets let him take care of Kadoma and we'll come visit him tomorrow, when he's awake."

"You'll call, if you need help?"

Nodding at Kujou's request, which had definitely sounded like an order, Hirakata guessed Shotaro would be a very happy camper tomorrow, when he told his friend how Kujou senpai hadn't wanted to leave his side. "Thanks for all your help. We both appreciate it."

"Thank you for taking care of him."

* * *

Waking up the next morning Kadoma felt very groggy and out of it. He could vaguely recall waking up sometime during the night in pain, and Hirakata giving him something that had made the pain go away and had made him sleep. Why had he been hurting again? Raising his hands with the intent to rub the sleep from his eyes Kadoma paused as he got a good look at said hands. Blinking his eyes awake instead Kadoma forced his eyes to focus, taking in the cast and the splintered fingers with a growing look of horror as memories of how they'd gotten that way flashed through his mind. Well not the cast and the splints, he didn't remember getting those, but he remembered the fights, both with his brother and with those asseholes from the other school. He must have passed out in Kujou's arms, Kadoma realized as his face went red with mortification. And here he'd been trying so hard to act more grown up around his senpai! Oh God, he was never going to live this down. Why couldn't those jerks have put him in a coma while they were dissembling his fingers? A coma definitely sounded good right about now, Kadoma thought miserably as his shoulders slumped in dejection.

"Ah, you're awake." Walking out of the bathroom in his boxers Hirakata walked over to take a seat beside Kadoma on the bed, absently rubbing his damp hair with his towel. "How do you feel? Do you want another pain killer?"

"Will it knock me out like a light?"

"It did before."

"Then gimme."

Amused Hirakata got up and got Kadoma a glass of water, as well as one of the prescribed pills. Helping his roommate take both of them since his hands weren't up to it Hirakata returned to his seat after putting the empty glass off to the side. "It must have been some night. You know Kujou senpai was really worried about you. Tennouji san and I practically had to drag him from your bedside." Well that was a little exaggeration but it would make Sho feel better. The poor little guy was not looking his best at the moment.

Blushing again Kadoma had to admit the idea would have been an appealing one if he had been awake and aware during the whole thing. "So he brought me back?"

"Yup, carried you in here too." It was better not to mention the fact that their senpai had started to undress him too, Hirakata thought in amusement as Kadoma pinked up even more. If the idea of being carried could make him blush that much, who knew what the idea of what Kujou senpai had intended to do would do to his roommate. The kid looked ready to keel over as it was. "I'll stay in to take care of you today. I'll only have to leave for a couple hours at lunch to meet with my group for that presentation for history. If you want, Ashiya kun already called and said he'd be happy to take care of you today, so I can call him in when I have to go."

"I'll be fine by myself." He'd already put his friend out way too much as it was. "Anyway, I think I'm just going to go back to sleep." Yeah, in sleep, he could pretend that the last twenty four hours had just been one horrible dream and nightmare combine. He intended to avoid reality as long as it took for his father to get down here to disown him. Closing his eyes Kadoma forced himself to drift back asleep, vaguely aware from time to time of his roommate's presence, but mostly, thankfully, he was lost in the dreamless slumber of the drugged.

* * *

When Kadoma woke up the next time he was in a lot of pain and sitting up he groaned, the muscles in his body complaining very loudly for such a simple action. When the curtain shading his bed opened Kadoma turned his head, intending to ask his roommate for another pill stat. Instead, he was struck dumb as he stared into Kujou's concerned face, the words dying on his lips.

"You're hurting." Was all Kujou said before handing over the pill and water he'd gotten as soon as he heard the sound of Kadoma stirring. "Here. Open your mouth."

Doing it automatically because it was Kujou Kadoma felt the brush of Kujou's calloused fingers against his lips as Kujou popped the pill into his mouth, followed by the glass of water pressed against his lips to wash it down. Gulping it down Kadoma blushed, feeling like a baby being fed by its mother. "Thank you."

Nodding Kujou leaned over to place the plastic cup on the shelf above Kadoma's bed then turned his attention back to his wounded little soldier. "How bad is the pain?"

"It will be gone in a minute. The pills work really well." Turning his head to the side so he wasn't looking at Kujou Kadoma asked the obvious question. "When did you get here? I told Hirakata kun he didn't need to get someone to watch me."

"I saw him on his way to his meeting and insisted on coming. What would you have done just now, if I hadn't been here to get you your pills and water? You can't even get up, can you?"

Hard to argue with that. "Has anyone other than Ashiya called?" If his parents or one of his brothers had called, he wanted to know now, when the drugs were starting to make his brain hazy again. He'd always been easy to drug for some reason, his high metabolism maybe? Either way, getting the news drugged was better then when he was clear headed enough to deal with the fact that his life as he'd known it was over.

"Takashi called. He told your family..your father didn't take the news well. He said your father is talking about taking you out of school."

Not surprising, since his father hadn't wanted him to come here in the first place. "He'll be here tomorrow then. My father doesn't waste time when he's set on doing something."

"When he comes, text me. I'll come with you."

Surprised Kadoma turned his head carefully to meet Kujou's cool gaze, wanting to shake his head but being physically unable to. "There's no need to do that, Sir! I can meet him by myself. He'll just get madder, if we have an audience. Really, it's okay. You've done enough."

Completely ignoring everything Kadoma had just said Kujou leaned forward and took Kadoma's chin in his hand, forcing the younger boy to continue to look at him. "Promise me you'll text me so that I can be there. No buts."

"I can do it alone."

"Haven't you figured it out yet, Kadoma? You aren't alone in this, not on several levels." And on that note, Kujou bent his head further so that their lips were millimeter's from touching. "Now be a good boy and promise."

"I...I...I...promise."

"Good boy." And then Kujou closed the gap, and his lips were on Kadoma's and Kadoma forgot all about why he should never have made that promise in the first place.


	8. Facing You

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all the poor characters end up in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and that's just the way its gonna be. Thanks to all my readers out there, sorry this took so long!

Facing You

When the page came over the sound system before ten the next morning Kadoma wasn't even surprised. Painfully getting to his feet he gave Hirakata a weak smile before heading for the door after sharing a quick nod with his teacher. His roommate was carrying his books and taking his notes for him so at least he didn't have those to drag with him to the principal's office, Kadoma thought to himself as he waked down the deserted hallway. He felt numb inside really, which was partly due to the drugs he was sure, but more than that, he thought it had a lot to do with the fact that he'd been bracing for this moment for so long that he was actually sort of relieved that soon it would be all over. Since the moment he'd looked at Kujou senpai, he'd known, somewhere in his heart, that he'd one day make the choice of his senpai over his family. Now that day had come. Using his good hand, which wasn't so good thanks to the two splints he had to wear, he carefully retrieved his cell phone as he stood outside the principal's door and painfully typed out the necessary message to Kujou san. He had promised, and once his father got started there was no way he'd have time to send out the message. Once it was sent Kadoma carefully slid it back into his pocket, and knocked on the door.

The principal himself opened the door and walking in Kadoma was surprised to see his mother getting to her feet as well as his father. He hadn't expected her to come, much less be allowed to. His father ruled the roost. It was ironic really, that he got his height from his father, and yet no one every really thought of his father as shorter than average because he had such a larger than life aura about him. And right now that aura said that his father was pissed.

"Your father wishes to speak with you alone, Kadoma san. Is that all right with you?" The principal hadn't been teaching this long without knowing when a parent was liable to do more damage to one of his students than any punishment he could possibly devise. Kadoma's father was definitely one of those parents at the moment.

"It's fine." Nodding Kadoma did his best to look reassuring. The principal really was a good guy, especially since his father was intimidating on a regular day, much less when you could practically see the barely banked fire in his father's eyes.

Nodding the principal gave Kadoma's shoulder a reassuring pat before turning to go. "All right then. If you need me just call." There was a lot of emphasis put on the just call before the principal let himself out, closing the door carefully behind him.

"We've already informed him that we're removing you from this school. We'll go to your dorm room now to pack up your things."

"I'm not leaving school. Making me leave isn't going to change who and what I am. Sir." Standing as tall as his aching body would allow him Kadoma met his father's gaze squarely. His mother remained behind, in the background, wringing her hands but saying nothing. It had probably taken every ounce of will power she'd had, just to get father to bring her. Kadoma couldn't even really bring himself to blame her for not saying anything. He only wished his father had the same problem.

"You are not staying here." Walking over Kadoma's father put a restraining hand on his son's shoulder, deliberately squeezing a bit to make it clear that Kadoma was in no physical condition to actually fight him off. "That's final."

"Grandfather left me enough money to pay for my schooling and I can get a job too." This at least, he had all thought through as he fought against the pain the shoulder squeeze had caused. "During the school vacations I can stay with friends, my roommate's parents have already said they'd be fine with me staying with them." It was sad really, when your best friend's parents were willing to put you up and your own weren't, unwilling to claim you as their own unless you fit in with their expectations of you. "I've thought this through, Father and I'm not a child. I knew what would happen the minute you found out. You can't threat me or call me anything I haven't imagined you saying or doing to me a thousand times this past year." A fiercely determined look coming into his eyes Kadoma, perhaps for the first time in his young life, actually resembled his father as he faced off against him man to man. "If you can't accept me as I am, then leave."

* * *

When his father drew back his hand Kadoma didn't even flinch, his gaze remaining direct as he waited for the blow to land. It didn't though, pausing in mid air as the sound of raised voices had all three of their heads turning towards the door, in time to see it open and Kujou walk in while the principal and his secretary called out for him to wait.

Taking in the raised hand Kujou's eyes chilled, his voice alone causing Kadoma's father to take a step back. "Lower your hand or I'll lower it for you."

"Kujou senpai!"

"Kujou san, you can't go in there." Student or not, the principal couldn't bring himself to actually attempt to grab the determined third year and try to yank him out of the room. It was general knowledge that Kujou was the most feared and respected in the school, he was not someone most people willing stood up against.

"I'm a part of this." Leveling his cool gaze on the principal the force of Kujou's determination had the principal staring helpless up at him. "If you'll excuse us, Sir." Waiting until the principal meekly headed out the door once more Kujou gave Kadoma's mother a short bow of respect, deliberately not doing the same for Kadoma's father. "I'm Itsuki Kujou. A third year here and the vice captain of the karate club."

"I know who the hell you are. You're the reason he'd turned out like this!" Glaring Kadoma's father was as mad about instinctively stepping away from Kujou as he was that the younger man had interrupted in the first place. "You get the hell out, you aren't going to see Shotaro ever again. He's going home with us!"

"I am not and don't you talk to senpai like that!"

Kadoma's father didn't know what to think, his youngest had never rebelled against him before. Well he had been against this school but in the end he'd allowed Kadoma to go, a grievous error on his part as it turned out. It was bad enough that his son was a girlie mommy's boy, he damn well wasn't going to be a...a...one of those people. His son was not going to end up that way, not over his dead body.

"There is nothing wrong with, Kadoma kun." Walking over to stand slightly in front of Kadoma Kujou neatly inserted himself between the two. "Say what you want to me but I won't allow you to hurt him."

"No, Sir. He can say whatever he wants about me but he won't speak badly of you in front of me." Elbowing his way forward now Kadoma was standing between the two men.

"Shotaro! Tell this person to leave."

"He wont leave even if I tell him to!"

"None of this is his business. He's never putting his filthy hands on you again. You're my son and I wont have you consorting with a...disgusting thing like him."

That was so the wrong thing to say. Seeing red Kadoma forgot about the pain, and the years of being trained to respect and take whatever abuse his father hurled at him. His father had called Kujou senpai terrible things. That was not allowed. Forgetting completely about his damaged hands Kadoma drew back the arm not in a sling and swinging it broke not only the splints on his fingers but his father's nose as well. Watching his father fall back onto the carpeted floor with a loud thud Kadoma looked down at him with eyes flaming with fury and dark intent. "Don't you ever speak about him that way again!"

"Sho kun." Speaking for the first time as she bent over her husband Kadoma's mother looked back and forth between her husband and her youngest son. Torn it was plain she didn't know what to do, especially since Sho kun had never behaved this way before.

"I will never acknowledge you as my father again." His whole body practically shaking with fury Kadoma's anger was only held slightly in check by the restraining hand his senpai had placed on his shoulder. "Thank you for all you've done for me, mother. I love you very much. I'm sorry that I couldn't be the son you wanted." Meeting Kujou's eyes they shared a look of understanding, both turning their backs on Kadoma's parents, Kujou opening the door for both of them, closing it behind them to the sound of Kadoma's mother weeping. Ignoring the principal and secretary the two walked side by side out of the room and into the school's hallway.

* * *

Taking Kadoma's good arm Kujou led him directly to the doctor's office and Doctor Umeda, who was in the middle of fighting off another of Akiha's advances when the two walked in. It only took the adults one quick look at Kadoma to forget all about what they were doing. "What's he done now?" Umeda asked lightly as Kujou literally sat Kadoma down on a chair. The boy looked like he was going to explode at any moment, which was interesting when compared to the icy fury pumping off Kujou.

"He broke his splints." Kujou explained, remaining at Kadoma's side while Umeda kneeled down the take the hand that lay limply at Kadoma's side.

There was blood on the hand but no sign of injury. Very interesting, Umeda thought as he removed the ruined temporary splints. "How did you break them?"

"By connecting them with my former father's face." Kadoma bit off, meeting Umeda's eyes temporarily before staring straight ahead once more, too angry to even see what was in front of him. "I've disowned myself."

Looking back and forth between the two students it didn't take a genius for either Umeda or Akiha to figure out just what must have happened. Both students had come to see Umeda at separate times, asking relatively the same questions which had to do with how society and his family had dealt with him being gay and what they could expect themselves and their partners to deal with. Apparently, Kadoma's coming out had gone over a lot worse than Kujou's had. From what Kujou had told him, his father and mother weren't thrilled by the idea but respected and loved their son enough to get past it for his sake. It seemed, at least for the moment, Kadoma's parents weren't willing to make those sorts of compromises.

"If he needs to go to the hospital I can take him." Akiha offered, looking over Umeda's shoulder at the damage the kid had done. Just like Ashiya, this kid wasn't what he appeared to be either. He'd met Kadoma a couple of times through Ashiya and Kadoma had always struck him as an easy going and non violent as Mizuki chan. Then again, Ashiya could hit pretty hard when she wanted to. He knew that personally.

"No, I can do it." Getting the necessary materials together Umeda didn't say anything while he got the two fingers re-splintered and the wounds looked over for additional injury. "Go back to your dorm room and take the medication the doctor gave you. Stay in bed for the rest of the day, I'll inform the necessary people of the reason for your absence. Kujou, I trust you'll see that he does so."

Nodding Kujou wrapped a supporting arm around Kadoma's waist as the younger man got to his feet on unsteady feet. The fury was starting to back off, replaced by pain. So much pain Kadoma couldn't understand why he wasn't doubled over screaming from it. Because Kujou senpai was there, Kadoma realized dimly, leaning against Kujou's strength. He couldn't break, not until he was alone.

Watching the two go Akiha slipped an arm around Umeda's shoulder. "Think they'll be okay?"

"Yeah. I really do. Now get your damn arm off me before I amputate it and make you eat it."

"Opps." Removing his arm quickly Akiha gave his former senpai a questioning look. "If his father comes in here to get looked at...are you going to help him?"

"Hell no."

"I knew I was in love with you for a reason."

"Shut up, Akiha."

* * *

Arriving back at Kadoma's thankfully empty dorm room Kujou locked the door behind them to keep it that way. Megumi would, as per his orders, not give the keys over and neither would Hirakata. That would at least buy them the time he needed to get Kadoma drugged up and out of the way so that he could beat the hell out Kadoma's father and anyone else stupid enough to think he was handing Kadoma over to them. It would definitely be over someone's dead body and it would definitely not be his own or Kadoma's. Turning back from the locked door Kujou looked at Kadoma who'd gone over to sit on the bed, staring off into space again. Retrieving the pills and a glass of water from the bathroom Kujou brought them both out, holding them out towards Kadoma with a commanding look in his eyes.

"It would be better if I'm conscious when they come for me." Kadoma said as he looked at the pills in Kujou's hand. "If a fight breaks out you'll get involved and they might expel or suspend you. You're graduating soon, I don't want that on top of everything else."

"Then I wont fight. But I wont let him take you either." Crouching down Kujou waited until Kadoma met his gaze before he continued. "We're in this together from now on. Your fight is my fight."

"But..." Whatever Kadoma might have said was halted by the sound of the phone going off.

Setting the pills and the water on the shelf Kujou gave Kadoma a warning look before picking it up to talk to the principal who was on the other end. The conversation was brief, with the principal doing most of the talking. Finally hanging up Kujou took a seat beside Kadoma. "Your father's being taken to the hospital, apparently Doctor Umeda is refusing to reset your father's nose. You're staying here, apparently your father took you seriously and told the principal you can stay here but you aren't welcome at home anymore."

Nodding Kadoma motioned towards his shelf with a slight jerk of his head. "I'll take the pills then."

Handing them over along with the water Kujou watched the boy take both before handing over the empty glass. While Kujou returned the glass to the bathroom Kadoma slid his sling off and awkwardly began tugging his gym shirt off with one hand, since thank God he'd been given permission to wear it instead of having to struggle with his normal school uniform. Working the shirt up by pinching the material between his thumb and pointer finger of his uncasted hand Kadoma was just able to get it off, letting it fall to the floor as Kujou walked back in. Ignoring his senpai for his own peace of mind Kadoma left his pants on, already too sleepy to care or bother with them. Stretching out on his bed Kadoma closed his eyes, laying his casted arm over his chest with his other arm limp at his side. He didn't want to move. He didn't want to think. At the moment, he didn't want to be.

Seeing what Kadoma was doing Kujou was having none of it. Leaning over Kujou carefully slid his arms under Kadoma's back and waist, gently sliding the startled boy further across the bed so that Kadoma's shoulder was now touching the wall. Before Kadoma could think to shuffle back into his former place Kujou slid onto the bed beside him, absently kicking his shoes off as he lay on his side facing Kadoma. "Go to sleep now. We'll talk more when you wake up."

Blinking, Kadoma was too startled to be shocked and embarrassed over the fact that he was laying in a bed alone with his beloved senpai. "Senpai?"

"I didn't get much sleep last night. Go to sleep."

"But I can't sleep with you here!"

"The drugs will change that shortly." His eyes were already starting to droop close, despite Kadoma's efforts to remain awake. It was cute, watching him try, Kujou thought with a small smile, like a cranky five year old who didn't want to take his nap but was already starting to conk out even as he struggled.

Face going red Kadoma forgot all about everything but the fact that Kujou was stretched out on his bed in his bedroom. "But..but what will Hirakata kun think?"

"He'll think I finally made a move. And if he's smart he'll find something else to do elsewhere. If you're that worried, we could go to my room." He had a single after all, all to himself where no one would bother them. Why hadn't he thought of that earlier?

"Finally made a move?"

"I take that to mean you're completely unaware that your fellow dorm mates have been laying bets for months now as to when you and I would come out as a couple."

So this is what it felt like to have the floor completely drop out from under him. "You can't be serious." Was all Kadoma could think to say.

"Oh I am. Most of them figured correctly, that I intended to wait until after I'd graduated and you were in third year, but your brother and father shot that plan to hell. Now we both have to be miserable while we wait for you to grow up."

"Huh?"

"It couldn't be helped. Now go to sleep."

Like hell he was going to sleep. "You were going to ask me out when I was in third year?"

"That was the plan. Unless you showed interest in someone else. Then I was going to interfere." Interfere was probably a weak word for what he would have done but Kadoma didn't need to know that.

"Why am I only finding this out now?"

"Because in a lot of ways you're still a kid and it would be wrong of me to expect you to deal with the sort of complications that would arise from us going out with each other."

"Like what?" Kadoma asked dumbly.

"Like sex for instance."

"Oh." Whether he passed out from the drugs or the shock neither would ever know.


	9. Fighting Spirit

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put all the poor characters in. Thanks so much for reading my fic, I look forward to hearing what you think of it! Have a good read and a great day.

Fighting Spirit

The bar was packed when Takashi finally arrived. Weaving his way through the crowd as he looked for his family, Takashi supposed it was small of him that he was so looking forward to this. He'd even been counting down the days on his calendar. And he'd be willing to bet a fair bit that his little brother had been doing the same since the news hit. Normally blowing a Saturday night in a bar with his family would seem like a big waste of time, but this was a special occasion. It didn't matter that the floors were filthy, the atmosphere smokey, and that the televisions were all blaring. No, all was right in the world for the moment because tonight was the night Takashi's father got one hell of a wake up call. Everyone was going to get one. Just able to stop himself from rubbing his hands in glee Takashi paused to take it all in.

Everyone in the bar was there to watch the karate tournament on the three big screen televisions that had been set up by Machi's dad, the owner of the bar. Not surprising really, seeing as it was his eldest son who was competing in the final bout, which was being specially televised in less than fifteen minutes. Hence the fact that the bar was actually filled for once. People from all over town had crowded in to watch their homeboy make good on the huge screens and more than a little money was changing hands as people bet as to how quickly Iori would take down the unknown challenger. Grinning, Takashi was willing to bet that he and Hikaru were probably the only ones betting on the home town hero's opponent winning. When they won, it was going to be such a sweet pot.

Finally finding his family, who was unfortunately sitting with Machi's family, Takashi sighed, sucked it up, and made his way over to grab the seat they'd saved for him. It had been four years since the now infamous trip to visit Shotaro. His friendship with Machi had ended that night, and the two now avoided each other like the seven plagues of Egypt. Unfortunately, their dads were still good friends. "Hi, everyone." Takashi called out over the noise, the crowd a rowdy one as they waited for the commercials to end so that the big event could take place. There were banners, posters, even hats, Takashi noted with a small smirk. It just got better and better.

"Thought you were going to miss it." Sitting back in his chair Takashi's father gave him a censoring look but didn't stay on the subject. Since Shotaro had disowned himself, their dad had really eased off on the rest of them. Like he expected them to do the same if he wasn't careful.

"So what's this I hear about you betting against my boy, Takashi?" Machi's dad asked cheerfully, punching Takashi lightly in the shoulder.

"Sorry, Sir, but I need rent money and this will cover the next two months."

"So you think Iori's going to lose?"

Ignoring the nasty undertones of Machi's question Takashi shrugged. "Iori's a great martial artist, no question. I just happened to know that his opponent is more than his equal when it comes to ass-kicking skills."

Whatever Machi might have said in response to that was cut off as Machi's dad loudly told everyone to be quiet as the commercials ended and the announcer announced that it was almost time for the big match.

"...And now we'll go down to Imura san who's down on the floor, ready to interview Iori Tendo, a contender in today's final match."

The bar exploded into loud cheering that quickly died out as everyone got a look at what was playing out on screen.

The screen went to a reporter but the man wasn't even looking at the camera. The reason why became brutally clear as the camera zoomed in on the two figures visible over the reporter's shoulder. The audio was clear as a bell.

* * *

"Just back off, Iori!" His dark eyes flashing Kadoma wasn't backing down as he glared at the older man. While Machi had been his chief oppressor in the Tendo family, Iori had whacked him upside the head plenty as a kid. But he sure as hell wasn't a kid anymore and he wasn't about to take any crap from his former neighbor. Standing tall, having finally reached a height that brought him to just above Kujou's chin, Kadoma wasn't a light weight girlie boy anymore. He was still slender, but there was definition in his arms and chest, his gaze direct and with a confidence he'd once majorly lacked. He'd done a lot of growing up since he'd seen Iori last and he was going to make that perfectly clear.

"Ohhhhhh, like I'm afraid of you, fag boy." Iori sneered, an older version of his brother in looks and personality, though Iori was far more developed in the muscles and ego area. Which was saying something. "What are you doing here anyway? Somebody's towel boy?"

"Bite me."

"Yeah, you'd enjoy that, wouldn't you, Uke?"

Getting sick to his stomach just thinking about it Kadoma glared up at him fiercely. "You know what I've always noticed about you and your brothers, Iori? You always get more mouthy and annoying when you're scared. You're scared out of your small mind right now, aren't you? You know you're going to get your ass kicked today so you're picking on me to make you feel big. You probably figure if you pick a fight with me you can play injured so you don't have to compete and embarrass yourself in front of everyone. Well I kicked your idiot brother's ass the last time I saw him and while I'd be happy to do the same to you, I'm looking forward to you falling flat on your ass on live television too much to finish you off now."

"Why you little..." Drawing back his fist Iori looked ready to throw a punch that if it hit, would likely break some bones.

"Stop."

Though the single word was spoken softly and without threat, the four others in the room instinctively stiffened, just something about that voice causing them to freeze in their places. The speaker walked into the viewing screen, a tall boy with light colored hair and brown eyes that spoke of intelligent authority. He was dressed in a white gi, and the aura of controlled power more of a hint as to his abilities than the black belt knotted at his waist. The young man walking over to Kadoma's side, he placed a restraining hand on his man's shoulder, though he never took his eyes off his future opponent. "Save it for the match, Tendo san."

"He's with you? This your seme, Sho?" Smirking Iori looked his opponent up and down with open scorn. "And here I thought I was going to have a match worth taping today. What a waste of my time."

"You're right, this match will be a waste of time."

Surprised that his opponent was agreeing with him Iori could only gap at the other man.

"A waste as I'll beat you in under a minute. I was going to draw it out at least four, so that those who've paid money to watch would get a little something out of it. However, I find the idea of treating you as an equal nauseating." Turning towards the camera Kujou gave a short bow, finally drawing the other two's attention to the fact that the whole thing had been recorded without their knowledge. "My apologies to the viewers." Gently herding a now bright red Shotaro away the two disappeared from view while Iori was left looking dumbly into the camera.

"Uhm well..." Doing his best to hide his glee the reporter finally looked into the camera. "We're going to commerical now, and when we come back, it will be time for the match! Will Itsuki Kujou be able to defeat Iori Tendo in under a minute? Stay tuned to find out!"

* * *

In the bar there was dead silence. For his part, Takashi was a little sorry they'd caught that whole thing on video before the main event. He'd been sorta hoping that his father wouldn't find out who Iori was facing until the actual match. Oh well, you couldn't have everything.

"Was that...?" His mother trailing off, unable to say the name of her lost son. Takashi's mother looked at him beseechingly, her eyes starting to water when he nodded in silent affirmation.

"Iori's opponent is that...his..." Unable to say his son's name it was obvious that the eldest Kadoma was struggling with how to ask without talking about that which had been deemed unspeakable by him.

"Itsuki Kujou is Shotaro's man, yeah. He was vice captain of the karate team at Sho's school, remember? He could have been captain, but his best friend was the better teacher so Itsuki let Tennoji san have the captain title." Hikaru informed them all, having come over in time to hear Takashi's dad's stuttering. She and Takashi were no longer going out, but they were still on friendly terms and she kept in touch. She was pretty much the only person Takashi could talk to about Shotaro, since no one else wanted to acknowledge his little brother's existence. "That's why I bet on him, because Shotaro told me all about him. Did you know that they called him "Botsatsu Kujou" and "Ashura Kujou", after the Buddhist gods? I heard that usually, his opponents would just resign in high school rather than face him. He never gets upset or breaks his cool, he's just an ass kicking machine apparently. Should be interesting to see how our local hothead deals with the ultimate ice man, huh?" Her wicked glee was as transparent as glass.

All around them whispers broke out as they took in what they'd overheard at the front table AND on the television. Everyone knew about the Kadoma boy, the one who'd been so girlie looking he might as well have been a girl even before his sexual preferences came out thanks to Machi's big mouth. Before that, Kadoma had been well liked by the community, a kind and helpful boy who'd never had a mean word for anyone. Apparently the soft spoken boy had grown into a tough young man, one who had the back bone to mess with someone of Iori's notoriety. And had Shotaro really been the one to beat Machi up? They'd all assumed it had been Takashi.

"Looks like the match is starting." Machi's dad called out, the jolly, cheerful mood having evaporated from the table and the bar. Now there was a definite edge, a competitive, combative feel to things. This wasn't about martial arts anymore, it wasn't even about sports. It was as if Iori was representing one train of thought and his competitor the opposite end of the spectrum. So just who would win?

* * *

The screen was split in half, an image of each opponent on either side. On Iori's the town could see the local boy getting some last minute instructions from his coach, though it was obvious that Iori was barely paying any attention to him. No, his focus was on his opponent on the other side of the room.

On the other side of the screen was Kujou who stood alone, standing tall and proud as he waited to be called to the mat. When the announcers called for the opponents to step onto the mat the crowds watched Kujou lift a chain from around his neck, a golden ring appearing at the end of it. Kujou grasped the ring, turning around to look at someone off screen as he touched the ring to his lips for a moment before returning the chain to its former hiding place under his gi. Than he stepped onto the mat, and the split screen went to a wide screen view of the mat as the two opponents met in the center to bow and face off against each other for the first and last time, a rather worried looking announcer between them.

The announcer went through the usual spiel, introducing the event, the sponsors, the opponents and their prior accomplishments in the world of martial arts. The fact that Kujou's list was longer and more prestigious escaped no one. Once that was done and the basic rules were gone over the announcer beat a hasty retreat and called out for the match to begin once he was safely off the mat. Facing each other the two bowed to each other, then moved in to circle their opponent.

What happened next would be talked about for weeks, speculation and gossip abound as everyone gave their own interpetation of the event. All that could be said for sure though was that Itsuki Kujou had said something, something that had caused Iori Tendo to act in the foolish way that had spelled his demise.

If the high tech cameras hadn't caught the image of Kujou's lips moving to form words ,they wouldn't even know that much, as only Tendo and Kujou could say what had been said and neither ever spoke of it. Whatever was said though, it drove the hotheaded Tendo to a move that would seal his fate with astonishing quickness. With a decidedly screechy war cry he had charged at Kujou like a raging bull, jumping into a leap to deliver a kick that was considered his signature move. The infamous kick never landed though, as Kujou's own kick caught him in the chest first, sending the other man flying backwards and back onto the mat; where he remained without stirring while the audience held their breath in anticipation. When the announcer finally got the courage to step onto the mat he confirmed that Tendo was out cold and Kujou was the winner. The match had lasted exactly 41.7 seconds.

In the interview following the match Kujou would state for the record that it was the difference in leg length that had allowed him to easily take his opponent down. Tendo was just average height while Kujou was above, and most of his height was in his legs. Of course no one really believed that it had come down to a height difference but that was all Kujou was willing to say on the matter. It wasn't just the quickness of the match that made headlines either. At the time of the interview Kujou had been surrounded by friends and family, with one girl drawing all their attention when she threw her arms around the winner to congratulate him. One reporter, who obviously either hadn't witnessed or heard about the prior speculation of Kujou's sexual orientation, asked if this was his wife, as she was wearing a ring and everyone had witnessed him reveal the ring he wore hidden around his neck.

Kujou had simply met the man's gaze openly and shook his head. "No, Mizuki san is a friend of Shotaro's and mine." And then he had put an arm around Kadoma's waist and drew the younger man to his side. "This is my husband."

* * *

The bar was dead silent, everyone not knowing what the hell to say as the program finished with that, as Kujou wasn't the type to give interviews and the questioning had nothing to do with fighting and everything to do with Kujou's simple statement.

"Well looks like I owe you 300 yen." Hikaru said softly, pulling out of her wallet. Handing it over to Takashi she grinned back at him. "Here I thought it would take him at least three minutes."

"Past history, I figured Itsuki san would want to take him down quick." Pocketing the change Takashi winked at his former girlfriend before turning back to look at the table occupants. Machi's family all looked shell shocked and his wasn't much better. His mom looked like she was going to start crying and his dad looked like he'd been hit by a two by four. His brothers were right up there with dad. "Well since the match is over I'm going to head out." Standing up Takashi stretched, raising his arms above his head as he faked a yawn. "Its been a long day and it's going to be another one tomorrow. I'll stop by tomorrow to get my winnings, Mr. Tendo. Sorry that Iori...didn't get much of a chance to show his skills."

"They're married? Sho and that...man."

Surprised Takashi turned to meet his dad's stunned gaze. That was what had shocked his dad? Then again, dear old dad had never really seen the two of them together, except for that one and only meeting. And he'd said Shotaro's name, something he hadn't done since the day Shotaro had left the family for good.

"Yeah, they got married a year and a half ago. Itsuki works at his friend's dojo and Sho is getting a degree in sports medicine. They moved in with each other as soon as Sho graduated."

"Oh."

* * *

It was a little after midnight when Kadoma's cellphone went off. Raising his head from Itsuki's shoulder Shotaro looked around sleepily, rubbing his hands over his eyes as he tried to wake up enough to process the ringing and where it was coming from. Slipping out of the bed Shotaro found his pants just in time, retrieving the phone with a whispered "Aha." Putting the phone to his ear he asked who it was even as he tried to slip into his pants once more so that he could go stand outside the hotel room, so as not to wake Itsuki. Pleased when his brother Takashi's voice came over the line Shotaro was happy to talk as he finished buttoning up his pants. Grabbing a room key Shotaro slipped out of the room and into the hallway, listening with unholy glee as Takashi gave him a blow by blow of what had happened in their home town earlier.

"So why are you calling so late?" Shotaro asked, stifling a yawn as he was worn out from a combination of jet lag and celebrating. Itsuki had had a lot of energy to work off since he hadn't gotten a proper match. Not that he'd complained.

"Well there's someone who wants to talk to you. You got a few minutes more?"

Biting down on his bottom lip Shotaro didn't have to be a mind reader to know that Takashi didn't mean Hikaru, who had already called to congratulate them anyway. Which meant... "Who?"

"Dad."

"He wants to talk to me?"

"He said your name for the first time today. He wants to talk to you. Can I put him on?"

"...ok."

Takashi got off and Shotaro could hear noise in the background, then silence. Dead silence. Then faintly, he could just make out the sound of breathing. His father.

"You wanted to talk to me?" His tone was defensive, Shotaro knew it but at the same time couldn't help it. It had become instinctive. When his family came up, Shotaro would rather be run over by a car.

"I...I..saw you on the T.V. today."

That was it. They hadn't spoken to each other in four years and that was all his father could think to say. His family needed counseling even more than the Osbornes.

All sorts of harsh, sarcastic answers coming to mind, they died away as warm, strong arms wrapped around his waist from behind, drawing him up against the familiar comfort of his husband's chest. Looking up their eyes met, conveying a hundred different messages in mere seconds. Drawing on the strength of who they were together Shotaro managed a hint of a smile, takign a deep breath before answering. "Yeah, so Hikaru and Takashi told me."

"You...doing all right?"

His eyes never leaving Itsuki's Shotaro's smile widened and became genuine. "Yeah. I'm doing really great."

"Good. And...good night...Shotaro."

"Good night...Father." Hanging up the phone Shotaro absently slid the phone back into his pant pocket. "My dad asked to talk to me."

Nodding his head Kujou set his head atop Shotaro's. "He did."

"It's a good day."

"A great day." Kujou corrected, tightening his hold on the love of his life. "As long as we're together, it will always be good day."

"Yeah."

The End


End file.
